The Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M rocket as it is known to Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, is also called the Soyuz ST-A when used by Arianespace for European launches.

It is built by the Progress Rocket Space Centre (TsSKB-Progress) under the jurisdiction of Roscosmos.

The Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M provides medium-lift capability.

It can be launched from all three Roscosmos launch sites: the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in western Russia, and the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia.

For Arianespace, it is primarily launched from Guiana Space Centre in South America, making it the only -- at present -- rocket to launch from more than one continent.

Image credit: CC "Yuzhny" / TSENKI / Roscosmos

The Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located 800 km north of Moscow, Russia.

Founded in 1957, it was originally established to support the Soviet Union’s R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches—the same rocket family that later evolved into the Soyuz launch vehicle used today.

From its inception until 2000, Plesetsk was less active than Baikonur Cosmodrome due to its geographic limitations, primarily allowing launches into Molniya and polar orbits. However, following the fall of the Soviet Union and Russia’s loss of direct control over Baikonur (now in Kazakhstan), Plesetsk has seen a significant increase in launch activity, particularly since the early 2000s.

Today, Plesetsk is primarily used for military and commercial launches to high-inclination and polar orbits.

The site has also been the location of three fatal ground accidents, resulting in a total of 58 casualties:

- 1973: A Cosmos-3M rocket exploded on the launch pad, killing 9 people.

- 1980: A Vostok-2M rocket exploded during fueling, killing 48 people.

- 2002: A Soyuz-U rocket explosion resulted in 1 fatality.

Image: Roscosmos