Kosmos 2556 (Bars-M No. 3)

Name: Russian Space Forces Kosmos 2556 (Bars-M No. 3) Soyuz 2.1a rocket launch
Start: 2022-05-19T08:03:00+00:00
End: 2022-05-19T10:00:00+00:00
Location: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Soyuz 2.1a

Russian Space Forces

Launch Status

Success

Thu • May 19th, 2022
8:03 AM UTC

Mission

Kosmos 2556 (Bars-M No. 3)

Type: Government/Top Secret
Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Launch Cost: $80,000,000

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.

Location

43/4 (43R)

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

43/4 (43R) has witnessed the launch of 323 rockets, including 323 orbital launch attempts. While Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation, has been the site for 1672 rocket launches.

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.

Rocket

Progress Rocket Space Center Soyuz 2.1a

The Soyuz 2.1A converted the flight control system from analog to digital, which allowed launch from fixed platforms. It also allowed big fairings and payloads.
It is currently used for crewed Soyuz and Progress flights to the ISS.

Learn more about the Soyuz 2.1a

Agency

Russian Space Forces

The Russian Space Forces are a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Russia. Having been reestablished following August 1, 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces after a 2011 dissolving of the branch. The Russian Space Forces were originally formed on August 10, 1992 and the creation of the Russian Armed Forces.