Launch details

Soyuz 2.1a | Kosmos 2579 (Bars-M No. 6)

Russian Space Forces

Government RUS

43/4 (43R)

Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Oct 31 at 10:00am

Launchpad time+0300

Oct 31 at 07:00am

Your local time+0000

Current status

Launch Successful

Soyuz 2.1a

Launch vehicle

Kosmos 2579 (Bars-M No. 6)

Mission

62.9288

Latitude

40.4571

Longitude

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24 hours before launch

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1 hour before launch

Note: For all launches the scheduled launch dates and times are subject to change due to weather, equipment, crew and other factors.

Mission description

Note: Payload identity uncertain. 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.

Kosmos 2579 (Bars-M No. 6)

Livestream

Attending a launch in person

Paid guided tours are how foreigners access Russian cosmodromes, for example Russia Discovery or Star City Tours, at a cost of around 3000 USD. The most valuable service they'll provide is organizing your permits with the Russian or Kazakh authorities.

If you only plan on seeing one, Vostochny is the most modern and likely the heart of Russian spaceflight moving forward, while Baikonur is steeped in history as the launch place of the first human in space (Yuri Gagarin) and the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova).

How to get there

From Moscow you can take an 18-hour overnight train directly to Plesetsk or a flight to Arkhangelsk and then a 5-hour train from there to Plesetsk or Mirny.

Note this is a highly restricted military spaceport and so all necessary permissions will need to be arranged beforehand.

Accomodation

Nearby hotels in Mirny for authorized visitors only. Hotels in Plesetsk are available to the general public.

Nearby parking

Parking not available on-site.

Agency details

Russian Space Forces are a branch of Russia's Aerospace Forces, focused on military and defense-related space operations. They handle satellite launches, missile warning systems, and space surveillance, ensuring the security and operational readiness of Russia's space assets.