Issue 143

10 Launch Analysis · Russia · LEO

Russia Launches Military Satellites to Multiple Orbit Planes

17 April 2026: Russia launched a Soyuz-2-1b rocket lifted off from Plesetsk with multiple spacecraft for the Ministry of Defense. Announcement of the pending launch was delayed due to the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes. The exact number of payloads has yet to be confirmed, US Space Force has added 10 objects to the catalog (68753-68759 & 68762-68764).

Author Greg Gillinger Published April 20, 2026

Per Bart Hendrickx this was a rather complicated launch profile. “The Volga then seems to have performed several burns to deploy objects E, A and B (in that order). Subsequently, object D ended up in an orbit at roughly the same altitude as object B, but with a different inclination. Object D could be the Volga itself…I’m not sure if the Volga has ever performed as many burns as it seems to have done on this mission. That may explain why not enough propellant was left for a deorbit burn. The only other mission where the Volga was not deorbited was the Kosmos-2535/2536/2537/2538 mission launched in 2019 (using the Soyuz-2.1v). That deployed the satellites in higher orbits above 600 km.”

Per Anatoly Zak: “By April 18, 2026, the US Space Force published tracking data for a total of 10 objects associated with the April 17 launch. The latest objects (F, G, H, J and K) were tracked in a 550-kilometer near-circular orbit with an inclination 96.95 degrees, indicating that they were released from the upper stage after it had completed the inclination-change maneuver. By that time, Object D was tracked in a 463 by 481-kilometer orbit indicating a orbit-lowering maneuver likely designed to accelerate the atmospheric reentry of the spent booster.”

Launch Video.