Russia launched military satellite from the Plesetsk cosmodrome

“ Dthe Plesetsk state test cosmodrome, in the Arkhangelsk region, the Russian Aerospace Force successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, with a space artifact in the interest of the Russian Ministry of Defense,” indicated the Russian military command, quoted by the Russian agency Interfax.

According to the military, the satellite was placed in orbit and became controlled by the ground services of the Russian Aerospace Force, maintaining stable telemetric communication.

After launch, the rocket was monitored by the automated land control systems of the Space Test Center “Guerman Titov”, the Ministry of Defense said.

The last similar launch took place on August 24, and in April, the army had launched several military probes aboard Angara-1.2 and Soyuz-2.1b rockets from Plesetsk.

In July 16 Rassvet-3 satellites, known as the Russian Starlink, were placed in orbit, which, although they have commercial and civilian purposes, could be of great use to the Russian military fighting in Ukraine, as they enable more precise attacks against Ukrainian forces.

In 2025, Russia also launched several military probes — the last on December 26, also aboard a Soyuz-2.1a rocket.

Russia, whose space programme has suffered various setbacks in recent years, has repeatedly called on the United States to prevent militarization of outer space.