LAUNCH CENTER

Launch Image
Success
Thu May 19 2022
Russian Space Forces

Kosmos 2556 (Bars-M No. 3)

Launch Successful
LAUNCH PREVIEW

Launch Time

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(8:03 AM UTC)

Launch Window Start

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(7:30 AM UTC)

Launch Window End

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(10:00 AM UTC)

RECOVERY OVERVIEW

Location

No Recovery Specified

Type

No Recovery Specified

Rocket Details

Name:

Soyuz 2.1a

Description:

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.

Soyuz 2.1a rocket
MISSION OVERVIEW
  • Type: Government/Top Secret
  • 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.
COMPLEX OVERVIEW

Location

Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Pad

43/4 (43R)