There are indications that a Soyuz 2.1v with EMKA 4 will be launched around March 20.
Quote from: Alter Sachse on 03/14/2023 08:14 pmThere are indications that a Soyuz 2.1v with EMKA 4 will be launched around March 20.The source for this information are two posts on a Russian spaceflight forum on March 12: https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/Космические-технологии.1045319/page-1273Someone with apparent inside knowledge said that according to a January plan the first launch from Plesetsk this year should take place "in the coming days" and that the payload will be what he called "the fourth EO". This should be EO MKA N°4, a satellite of the same type as Kosmos-2551, 2555 and 2560. Of course, the launch may well have slipped since then. The rumored March 20 launch date seems to be based on a NOTAM that is not at all related to Plesetsk. So no certainty at all that this launch will take place this month.
EMKA No.4 also seemed illogical to me.At some point, "experimental" must be finished.
The Next Spaceflight website lists the payload for this week's Soyuz-2.1 launch as the Bars-M No.4.
Quote from: Vahe231991 on 03/21/2023 06:30 pmThe Next Spaceflight website lists the payload for this week's Soyuz-2.1 launch as the Bars-M No.4.The source for that may well be NSF. Again, the impact zones are the same as those for last year's launch of Bars-M No. 3, but that does not necessarily mean it is another Bars-M. It could also be another payload going to SSO (see Reply 3 for two possible alternatives). The launch schedule on the NK forum now gives the payload as Obzor-R. Since this is a civilian (radar) satellite, you'd expect to see some more pre-launch coverage of that, but anything is possible these days.
And now they reported the launch was successful, the satellite is in orbit and is working.
2023-040A/55978 in 338 x 499 km x 97.64°Similar orbit to the initial Bars-M#3 orbit
Quote from: input~2 on 03/23/2023 08:47 am2023-040A/55978 in 338 x 499 km x 97.64°Similar orbit to the initial Bars-M#3 orbitThese were the initial orbit parameters for the first three Bars-M satellites: 339x566 km327x540 km338x556 kmSo the apogee is significantly lower this time. We should see a couple of burns the coming days to circularize the orbit.