Soyuz 2.1a | Kosmos 2556 (Bars-M No. 3)
Launch Successful
L - -- : -- : -- : --
Launch Window
May 19, 2022, 7:30 a.m. - May 19, 2022, 10 a.m.
May 19, 2022, 7:30 a.m. - May 19, 2022, 10 a.m.
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.
Launch success confirmed
Liftoff
Updated launch date and time per NOTAMs.
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.
Progress Rocket Space Centre, formerly known as TsSKB-Progress, is a space science and aerospace research company which is known for manufacturing launch vehicles and satellites. Most notably, Progress Rocket Space Centre is the manufacturer of Soyuz launch vehicles.
INFO WIKI
A classified mapping satellite rode a Soyuz rocket into space Thursday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, the fifth space mission of the year to deploy a Russian military payload into orbit.
A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
NS-38 is the 17th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 38th in the New Shepard program's history.
First 2 satellites of UK-based Open Cosmos' secure LEO broadband constellation designed to provide independent and resilient connectivity infrastruct…
A batch of 25 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Twelfth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office …
First test launch of Galactic Energy’s Ceres-2 rocket.
Chinese experimental spacecraft of unknown purposes.
4 small satellites for LEO Internet of Things (IoT) communication purposes.