7

I've noticed that different launches of the Soyuz launcher have a variety of logos depicted on the side of the fairing and boosters.

  • What do the logos in the different positions signify?
  • Who decides what goes where?
  • Is there any informative log of the various logos for different flights?

Soyuz TMA-3 at launch

In the above example, there is what looks like the Flag of Spain, red text (Союз - Cyrillic Soyuz) and another icon to the left of that text. There's also a square blue/white logo on the bottom near one of the boosters.

universetoday-rus.com

In the above there is what looks like the logo of the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Russell Borogove
  • 168,364
  • 13
  • 593
  • 699
Ezra Bailey
  • 2,890
  • 1
  • 23
  • 44
  • 4
    "COIO3" is the Cyrillic spelling of "Soyuz". – Hobbes Jul 17 '15 at 18:03
  • @Hobbes thanks for pointing that out! I can't believe I missed that. I feel silly now: Soyuz (Cyrillic: "Союз") ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz – Ezra Bailey Jul 17 '15 at 18:06
  • The logo on the booster towards the bottom appears to be the same from here: http://en.samspace.ru/ my translation skills are very subpar. Can anyone provide any information on what this is? – Ezra Bailey Jul 17 '15 at 21:18
  • 1
    @SarahBourt The blue logo is from the "Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center". It translates to TSKB PROGRESS. They manufacture the Soyuz booster. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_State_Research_and_Production_Rocket_Space_Center – Organic Marble Jul 18 '15 at 02:59
  • 1
    "РКЦ «Прогресс»" on the logo stands for "Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»" or Progress Rocket Space Centre – SF. Feb 28 '17 at 16:08
  • Why no one has corrected the OP that the rockets in question are not R-7? R-7 was an ancient ancestor of Soyuz, it was ICBM. – Flanker Mar 02 '17 at 18:02
  • @Flanker most (all?) of the active Soyuz rockets are variants in the R-7 family. It's perhaps superfluous to mention, Feel free to submit an edit if you feel it should be ommitted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-7_(rocket_family)#Summary_of_variants – Ezra Bailey Mar 03 '17 at 17:46
  • @Sarah, I think the title is somewhat misleading. "R-7" and "Soyuz" are used together only with historical context with emphasis on lineage (and this topic is not about that). The rockets in question (at least all launches since 1966) are Soyuz, so I would remove "R-7" :) – Flanker Mar 04 '17 at 06:49
  • Related: Did a Soyuz ever fly with a Union Jack? – Russell Borogove Sep 23 '20 at 04:16

2 Answers2

8

The Spanish flag is the key to identify which of the Soyuz launches that was.

On the first pictrue we seem to have Soyuz TMA-3 (Союз ТМА-3), launched on October 18, 2003.

So let's review its logos:

  1. The Spanish flag is for Pedro Duque
  2. Below the spanish flag we have Pedro's "Cervantes" mission nice looking patch
  3. The logo on the booster is for Soyuz rocket producer TsSKB Progress (It says "ЦСКБ Прогресс").

Now lets rotate the rocket a little. This is the same rocket but from a different angle:

Soyuz TMA-3

  1. The big logo in the middle of the central block is the same TsSKB Progress one, as the one on the booster.

  2. Under the Russian flag there is an old logo of the Russian Space Agency. It says "РКА" for Российское Космическое Агентство.

  3. And below there is an older version of RSC Energia logo (it says "РКК Энергия"). The producer of the Soyuz spacecraft.

Now, I could not find a picture of the same rocket from yet another angle, but I assume there should be their Soyuz TMA-3 patch too somewhere, as well as USA flag for Michael Foale. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised by their ISS-8 mission patch.

All in all seems quite logical.

Hobbes
  • 127,529
  • 4
  • 396
  • 565
  • Awesome post! Do all Soyuz missions follow this roughly this pattern? – Ezra Bailey Jul 18 '15 at 04:00
  • 1
    @Sarah Bourt: roughly, yes. The producers, the participants and the missions. Although, somtimes they come up with more creative decorations. Google for "Olympic Soyuz" images and videos. –  Jul 18 '15 at 14:50
  • Very cool! Thanks! Any ideas where I can find high resolution versions of some of these logos? Or is google hunting my best option? – Ezra Bailey Jul 18 '15 at 19:59
  • 1
    @Sarah Bourt: I don't know, sorry. –  Jul 18 '15 at 20:18
4

In addition to the logos of the Soviet Space Program and the launch customer, Roskosmos has in fact added non-launch related advertising to their vehicles:

Pizza Hut logo on Proton rocket

I personally have bought exactly one Pizza Hut pizza in the past two decades, and that purchase was specifically to support the advertiser!

dotancohen
  • 6,754
  • 3
  • 29
  • 52