Russian Military Satellites: Development and Launches

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. The Kosmos-2560 satellite launched in interests of the Russian Defense Ministry from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Archangelsk Region using the Angara-1.2 light launch vehicle was successfully put into the target orbit, the Ministry told reporters on Sunday.

The light launch vehicle with the spacecraft blasted off at 22:55 Moscow time on Saturday.

"The Kosmos-2560 spacecraft launched by combat crews of the Space Force of Russia’s Aerospace Forces from the State Test Cosmodrome Plesetsk was placed on the target orbit at the estimated time and was taken for tracking by terrestrial facilities of the Russian Defense Ministry," the Ministry said.

Robust telecommunication is being maintained with the satellite and its onboard systems are functioning normally, the Ministry added.

The devices were assigned serial numbers "Cosmos-2561" and "Cosmos-2562"

MOSCOW, 22 October. /TASS/. The Russian Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2.1v carrier rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

"On October 21, from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense, a Soyuz-2.1v light-class carrier rocket was launched with spacecraft on board. The spacecraft were assigned the serial numbers Cosmos-2561 and Cosmos-2562," it says. in a departmental announcement.

MOSCOW, 1 December. /TASS/. On Thursday, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. This was reported to journalists in the defense department.

"On December 1, 2022, from the Plesetsk cosmodrome (Arkhangelsk region), the combat crew of the space troops of the Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2.1b medium-class launch vehicle with spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry," the ministry said.

The previous launch of the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from Plesetsk took place on November 28, when a spacecraft was put into orbit in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry.

Big_Gazza wrote:They don't identify the payload but some believe it to be a Neitron reconnaissance satellite, while others assert that the orbital object has the standard orbit insertion parameters for a Lotos-S and its upper stage. Time will tell.

Bros... their aerospace budget is much smaller than the total EUs space budget and about on par with India's space budget.

It is getting a little goofy witnessing fellow westerners and doomers wildly fluctuate between ruskies being a massive behemoth power on one end and a total paper tiger on stilts on another.

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket, launched on Thursday morning from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, launched a spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry, called Kosmos-2567, into orbit. This was reported on Thursday in the Russian military department.

"At the estimated time, the spacecraft was launched into the target orbit and accepted for control of the ground facilities of the Space Forces," the message says.

Telemetric communication has been established and maintained with the satellite, its on-board systems are functioning normally, and the device itself has been given the name Kosmos-2567. Information about the satellite is included in the catalog of objects of the space control system.

The rocket was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome at 09:40 Moscow time on March 23. The launch and launch of the satellite into the calculated orbit took place in the normal mode.

Moscow. 30th of March. INTERFAX.RU - A light-class Soyuz-2.1v carrier rocket, launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on Wednesday evening, launched a spacecraft into orbit in the interests of the Russian military department, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters.

On March 29, 2023, Russian military personnel in Plesetsk performed a successful launch of Soyuz-2-1v vehicle with a classified payload, according to the nation's department of defense.

Around March 14, 2023, rumors on the Russian-language forums reported preparations for another launch from Plesetsk within couple of days. According to some posters, a Soyuz-2-1v rocket was expected to launch EO MKA No. 4 experimental satellite, apparently similar to a previous such spacecraft launched in 2021. By March 16, Russian authorities issued a warning to air traffic in the Arctic region, indicating a launch around 07:00 UTC on March 23, 2023.

According to the warnings to air and and sea traffic issued by the Russian authorities, the launch from Plesetsk was planned between 20:00 and 21:00 UTC (23:00-24:00 Moscow Time, 4-5 p.m. EDT) on March 29, 2023.

The mission finally lifted off on March 29, 2023, at 22:57 Moscow Time.

Emulating a similar earlier mission, the rocket likely headed almost exactly north, under the combined propulsion of a single NK-33 main engine and the four thrusters of the RD-0110 steering engine. Lacking the four strap-on boosters of its predecessors in the Soyuz family of rockets, Soyuz-2-1v relied solely on a modified core booster as its first stage.

Following the first-stage ascent, the second stage took over the powered flight around two minutes into the flight. It fired its four-chamber engine moments before the separation of the first stage, thanks to a lattice structure connecting the two boosters, which allows the free flow of the exhaust from the nozzles above. Right after the separation of the first stage, the tail section of the second stage split into three segments and fell away.

Both, the first stage and the fragments of the tail section were expected to splash down in the Barents Sea, north of Murmansk.

As the second stage continued its burn, the payload fairing protecting the satellite split in two halves and also separated. Its fragments were to fall into the Arctic Ocean, south of the Spitsbergen Archipelago.