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Soyuz 2.1b | Kosmos 2573 (Bars-M No. 5?)

December 21, 2023 at 8:48 AM UTC

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Soyuz 2.1b | Kosmos 2573 (Bars-M No. 5?) launch image
Mission imagery · Soyuz 2.1b

Launch details

LAUNCH IN

T−00d00h00m00s

December 21, 2023 at 8:48 AM UTC

Status: Launch Successful · Live feed refreshes every 30 seconds

43/4 (43R)

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation · 62.9288, 40.4571

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Launch site
43/4 (43R)

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Launch probability
Not published
Window opens
December 21, 2023 at 8:00 AM UTC
Window closes
December 21, 2023 at 10:00 AM UTC
Feed updated
December 21, 2023 at 2:41 PM UTC

Mission description

Note: Payload identity uncertain, possibly Bars-M #5 or a similar satellite as the insertion orbit is similar. Bars-M is the second incarnation of the Bars project, which was started in the mid 1990ies to develop a successor for the Komtea class of area surveillance satellites. The original Bars project was halted in the early 2000s. In 2007, TsSKB-Progress was contracted for Bars-M, for which reportedly the Yantar-based service module was replaced by a new developed advanced service module. The Bars-M satellites feature an electro-optical camera system called Karat, which is developed and built by the Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association (LOMO), and a dual laser altimeter instrument to deliver topographic imagery, stereo images, altimeter data and high-resolution images with a ground resolution around 1 meter.

Mission media

Watch the launch.

Kosmos 2573 (Bars-M No. 5?)

Full video record
Vehicle

Soyuz 2.1b

Soyuz

Height

46.3 m

Diameter

2.95 m

LEO capacity

8,200 kg

Successful launches

24

Launch complex

43/4 (43R)

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.

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Official links

Mission updates

Added launch per NOTAMs; Payload and launch vehicle identities uncertain.

December 19, 2023 at 12:25 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin

Liftoff confirmed.

December 21, 2023 at 9:29 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin

Launch success.

December 21, 2023 at 1:21 PM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin