Russia launches secret military satellite from Plesetsk

Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying a military satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region on November 7, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The launch was carried out by a crew from the Space Forces of Russia’s Aerospace Forces.

“The spacecraft was placed into its designated orbit as planned. Stable telemetry communication is being maintained with it,” the ministry said.

The ministry described the payload only as a spacecraft launched in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry, the usual wording for classified military satellites. Such satellites typically receive a name in the Kosmos series once in orbit, and independent trackers and amateur observers often work out their likely role from the orbit they end up in.

The Soyuz-2.1b is a medium-lift version of Russia’s workhorse Soyuz rocket, with an upgraded third-stage engine that lets it carry heavier payloads to higher orbits. Russia uses it for most of its military launches from Plesetsk, including navigation, early warning and reconnaissance satellites.

Plesetsk, about 800 km (500 miles) north of Moscow, is Russia’s main military spaceport. Its northern location suits launches into the high-inclination and polar orbits that reconnaissance and missile warning satellites use.

The launch is the latest in a steady series of classified Russian military launches this year. In September, the Russian military confirmed a classified satellite launch from Plesetsk on another Soyuz-2.1b, and earlier missions have placed several small satellites in orbit at once, as when Russia quietly put up to nine secret satellites into orbit.

Some Russian military satellites have drawn attention for maneuvering close to other spacecraft. Western officials and analysts have tracked so-called inspector satellites approaching foreign satellites, and a Russian satellite shadowed a radar satellite used by Ukraine. Space-based reconnaissance, communications and navigation have become more important to Moscow’s military since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as both sides rely on satellite data for targeting and battlefield awareness.