Shuttle is limited to one lauch and retreival site, Soyuz has numerous
launch sites and can land in many locations.

Numerous launch sites? Baikonur, Tyrutam (sp?), and the one possibly
going in at Kourou? Soyuz has the capability to land almost anywhere,
but that means you have to have the stuff to go out, retrieve and
possibly treat the crew, and bring them back.


True, the shuttle is limited to one launch site today, but one other
site was completed at Vandenberg (though never used). As for
recovery, the primary landing site is the SLF runway at Kennedy, and
the first alternate is Edwards AFB. Additional sites can be used as
necessary; one of the early flights landed at White Sands because
Edwards was flooded (or at least all muddy). The abort landing sites
mentioned in other posts are also avalible, though they would probably
not be used in any situation besides launch abort.

Soyuz can be reconfigured to progress configuration for delivery of
fuels and various cargoes etc, while shuttle can only carried those
items considered safe.

True, progress can deliver fuel and other "hazardous" cargo, but the
shuttle can bring a lot more of the "safe" items, replenish the water
from the fuel cells, and it can ferry up equipment racks (in the MPLM)
and other large hardware. It can also return larger amounts of stuff,
which the progress can't really do.

Soyuz has capabilities such as automated docking the shuttle does not.

The automatic docking capability for the Soyuz was originally
implemented because the Soviets did not trust their cosmonauts to do
the docking manually... many missions had to abort because system
failed and the cosmonauts were not trained to make dockings manually.


The soyuz launcher can launch payloads to heo or interplanetary
missions, whereas the shuttle is limited to the leo.

The shuttle has launched several payloads into other-than-LEO space...
such as TDRS, various comsats into GEO, Magellan, Galileo, Ulysses,
and Chandra. All of these required various combinations of PAMs,
Star-48's, and IUS's, but they did get there. This capability has
been all but retired now, since the remainder of the missions will be
dedicated to ISS support.


The shuttle operates for weeks in space while soyuz can operate for
months if not more.

If you define "operating for months if not more" as being virtually
shut down while docked to a space station, then yes. However, the
shuttle has flown missions in excess of two weeks (theoretically
capable of up to a month with EDO kits), whereas the current Soyuz
models can only operate independently for a couple of days. The last
independent Soyuz flights were back in the 70's, IIRC, and I don't
think they lasted much longer than a week or so.


Availability of soyuz transportation system is dependant on customer
money available whereas shuttle is dependant on bureaucracy,
scheduling also interrupted by military payload requirements.

The shuttle has not flown dedicated DOD flights for at least 10
years... original plans called for at least one shuttle to be
dedicated to the DOD, but after STS-51L the military decided to move
back to expendibles (Titan III, etc) and only fly the payloads that
were already committed on the shuttle.