Angara 1.2 - Kosmos-2597/2598/2599 - Plesetsk - November 25, 2025 (13:42 UTC)

[B. Hendrickx]

A0253/25 NOTAMN
Q) DGAC/QRTCA/IV/BO/W/000/999/0639S00349E065
A) DGAC B) 2511251300 C) 2511291600
D) 1300-1600 DAILY
E) RUSSIAN AEROSPACE FORCES MISSILE LAUNCH. FALLING DEBRIS WI ACCRA
OCEANIC AREA:
071800S 0025500E
061230S 0030030E
062200S 0045300E
063230S 0045215E
071800S 0025500E
AREA PROHIBITED.
F) SFC G) UNL

Exactly the same NOTAM was announced for the launch of the three Rodnik satellites (Kosmos-2585, 2586, 2587) last March. This is the impact zone for the second stage of the Angara-1.2 off the western coast of Africa. Most likely, a new trio will be going up at the end of this month. The trio launched in March was designated 14S137 N°7, with the individual satellites having the designators 14F132 N°29, 30, 31. This one should be 14S137 N°8 (14F132 N°32, 33, 34). As is known from court documentation, the launch of Block N°8 was expected several months after that of Block N°7.

[B. Hendrickx]

A navigation warning has appeared for the impact of the first stage and the payload fairing in the Barents Sea:

ZCZC KA93
190700 UTC NOV 25
COASTAL WARNING MURMANSK 370
BARENTS SEA
1. ROCKET LAUNCHING 25 TO 29 NOV
1300 TO 1435 IN AREAS DANGEROUS
TO NAVIGATION BOUNDED BY
A. 70-47-00N 046-22-00E
   70-37-00N 047-36-00E
   69-46-00N 046-36-00E
   69-56-00N 045-20-00E
B. 74-04-00N 051-13-30E
   73-51-40N 052-40-00E
   72-44-00N 050-36-00E
   72-57-00N 049-13-00E
2. CANCEL THIS MESSAGE 291535 NOV 25
NNNN

This is also a carbon copy of a NOTAM for the launch of the three Rodnik satellites last March. Since the impact zones are much closer to the launch site than that of the second stage off the coast of Africa, the window given here is shorter (13.00-14.35 UTC).

[B. Hendrickx]

Successful liftoff reported with satellites (plural) for the Ministry of Defense. The launch time was 13.42 UTC.

[catdlr]

https://twitter.com/SpaceIntel101/status/1993340054966599826

Space Intelligence
@SpaceIntel101

Orbital Launch no.272 of 2025🇷🇺🚀3🛰️

Strela-3M | Russian Space Force | November 25 | 1342 UTC

Russian Space Forces launched Strela-3M 22-24🛰️, part of a military communication constellation, into LEO on Russian Angara-1.2🚀 from Plesetsk cosmodrome site 35/1.
Video per
@TheSpacePirateX

[Satori]

From the Russian MoD Telegram...

[B. Hendrickx]

The Ministry of Defense has reported that all satellites have been placed into the intended orbits and that their systems are functioning normally. No information on the number of satellites and their Kosmos numbers. We'll have to wait for US tracking data to get confirmation that these are indeed three more Rodnik satellites.

Video of the roll-out and launch is here:
https://rutube.ru/video/330471a72a29cce968b788dccc8b2b2e/

[B. Hendrickx]

Three objects have been catalogued in typical Rodnik orbits:

2025-273A    66647   2025-273A   115.95   82.50   1,505   1,492   0.0008298       
2025-273B    66648   2025-273B   115.92   82.50   1,504   1,490   0.0008406       
2025-273C    66649   2025-273C   115.97   82.50   1,506   1,493   0.0008588

       

These should get the Kosmos numbers 2597, 2598 and 2599. As in the March 2025 launch, the AM stage appears to have been de-orbited. To the best of my knowledge, no NOTAM was announced for that.

This launch has opened up a new plane in the Rodnik constellation. There are now a total of 18 Rodnik satellites in orbit spread over four planes. The launches took place in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2025. The bulk of the older satellites has continued to make orbit corrections in the past year or so, suggesting they are still operational and displaying remarkable longevity. Two objects from the 2015 launch (Kosmos-2507 and 2508) have not shown any activity since July 2023 and March 2024 and one object from the 2013 launch (Kosmos-2489) has not made any orbit corrections for several years.

The satellites launched yesterday and in March are modified versions that incorporate more Russian-built electronic components than their predecessors (because of Western sanctions). They are, in fact, known by the name Klyuch. This word is most commonly used in Russian in the meaning “key”, but is used here in its less common meaning “spring” (in the meaning “place where water comes up through the ground”). “Rodnik” is a synonym of “klyuch” in that particular meaning.

I wrote more on the history of the Klyuch satellites in the thread on the March 2025 launch. I will copy/paste that here:

The long road to the launch pad of the newly launched Rodniks is fairly well documented in court filings that have appeared online over the past couple of years. The satellites were built under a contract signed between the Ministry of Defense and ISS Reshetnev on November 16, 2015 under the name Klyuch. This was a direct result of the Ukrainian crisis that broke out the preceding year and the resulting Western sanctions. First, it was decided to switch the satellites from Rokot to Angara-1.2 because Rokot’s guidance and control system was built in Ukraine and the rocket was scheduled to be abandoned at that point (the decision to build an all-Russian version of Rokot was made much later). Second, the sanctions made it necessary to replace many Western-built electronic components used aboard the satellites. This pertained particularly to its main communications payload, designated 14R59. Changes to the 14R59 in turn also necessitated changes to the satellites' overall design as well as to ground control systems and ground-based communications hardware.

The Klyuch contract envisaged the construction and launch of two trios of satellites, referred to by the Russians as “blocks” (with the designator 14S137):
-14S137 N°17: satellites with serial numbers 29, 30 and 31
-14S137 N°18: satellites with serial numbers 32, 33 and 34

The first trio was originally supposed to be delivered to Plesetsk in late 2019/early 2020, but suffered numerous delays. Two reasons are given in the documentation. One is that the Ministry of Defense did not supply technical specifications for the modified 14R59 payload until May 2019, something which is usually done at the very beginning of a project. Second, there were also delays in drawing up technical specifications for the ground control complex (designated 14Ts32). By mid-2021, the delivery of Block 17 to Plesetsk had slipped to August 2023, but there obviously were more delays further down the road. In the end, the first trio was launched about five years behind schedule, with Western sanctions clearly being at least partially to blame.

Judging from the documents, the Block 18 satellites were expected to be ready soon after the Block 17 satellites, so we may see the launch of the next trio in the not too distant future. The trio launched yesterday was placed into an orbital plane close to that of the Block 15 satellites (Kosmos-2507, 2508, 2509), launched in September 2015.  Kosmos-2509 made minor orbit corrections in February and appears to be active. The status of the two others is unclear. At least some of the Block 13, 14 and 16 satellites also still appear to be operational.

The 14Ts32 ground control complex is linked in the documentation to satellites designated 14F132 and 14F161. At first sight, 14F161 would seem to be the new index for the modified satellites, but satellite nr. 29 is still identified in one of the documents as belonging to the 14F132 series. Possibly, 14F161 is a designator for a further modification of Rodnik that has not yet flown.

[catdlr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QuTahb3A5s