Editing Soyuz (rocket family) (section)

=== Soyuz / Fregat ===
{{main|Fregat}}
[[Image:Soyuz TMA-13 erected at Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Soyuz-FG]] erected at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] launch pad 1/5 (nicknamed ''[[Gagarin's Start]]'') ahead of [[Soyuz TMA-13]] in October 2008.]]

In the early 1990s plans were made for a redesigned Soyuz with a [[Fregat]] upper stage. The Fregat engine was developed by [[NPO Lavochkin]] from the propulsion module of its [[Phobos program|Phobos interplanetary probes]]. Although endorsed by the [[Roscosmos]] and the [[Ministry of Defence (Russia)|Russian Ministry of Defence]] in 1993 and designated "Rus" as a Russification and modernisation of Soyuz, and later renamed Soyuz-2, a funding shortage prevented implementation of the plan. The creation of [[Starsem]] in July 1996 provided new funding for the creation of a less ambitious variant, the Soyuz-Fregat or Soyuz-U/Fregat. This consisted of a slightly modified [[Soyuz-U]] combined with the Fregat upper stage, with a capacity of up to 1350&nbsp;kg to [[geostationary transfer orbit]]. In April 1997, [[Starsem]] obtained a contract from the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA) to launch two pairs of [[Cluster II (spacecraft)|Cluster II plasma science satellites]] using the Soyuz-Fregat. Before the introduction of this new model, Starsem launched 24 satellites of the [[Globalstar]] constellation in 6 launches with a restartable [[Ikar (rocket stage)|Ikar upper stage]], between 22 September 1999 and 22 November 1999. After successful test flights of Soyuz-Fregat on 9 February 2000 and 20 March 2000, the [[Cluster II (spacecraft)|Cluster II satellites]] were launched on 16 July 2000 and 9 August 2000. Another Soyuz-Fregat launched the ESA's [[Mars Express]] probe from Baikonur in June 2003. Now the Soyuz-Fregat launcher is used by Starsem for commercial payloads.