Soyuz-2.1a - Kosmos 2567 - Plesetsk - 23 March 2023 (06:40 UTC)

[B. Hendrickx]

Kosmos-2567 has still not circularized its orbit more than one week after launch, continuing to circle the globe in a 407x498 km orbit. It performed two perigee-raising burns on March 24 and 25 (from 338 km to 343 km and then to 408 km), but has not maneuvered since. This is unusual compared to the earlier Bars-M missions. The raising of the perigee has always been done in several steps, but faster than this time. The two first Bars-M satellites (Kosmos-2503 and 2515) performed a major burn (raising perigee by about 200 km) on day 5 and day 4 of their missions respectively. The third Bars-M (Kosmos-2556) carried out a larger number of smaller burns, but also finished the circularization process by day 5 of its mission. 

Since Kosmos-2567 looks like it’s going to operate in a lower orbit (around 500 km), the perigee-raising process may take place at a more leisurely pace this time, so it’s too early to conclude that something has gone wrong. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on what happens in the coming days.

What is clear is that the first two Bars-M satellites suffered crippling failures relatively early in their missions. An insider on the NK forum has confirmed that they stopped functioning a long time ago, adding that especially the second one fell far short of its expected lifetime (in fact, it never fully circularized its orbit, with the difference between perigee and apogee remaining around 50 km). What caused these malfunctions is, of course, impossible to say. Bars-M introduced a new type of unpressurized bus and also a new propulsion system called SVIT. The same bus will also be used by the Obzor-R radar satellite to be launched later this year.   

[Alter Sachse]

March 31
97.63° 94.65 min 496-507 km