At 19:55 UTC on Oct. 15, an Angara 1.2 rocket launched from Site 35/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying a payload for the Russian military to a Sun-synchronous Orbit (SSO). The exact identity of the payload is not known, other than it received the Kosmos-2560 designation upon reaching orbit. While initially suspected to be a small military optical reconnaissance satellite designated EMKA-3, new reports offer the payload is part of a different series of satellites and is designated EO MKA No. 3. Kosmos-2560 is associated with two previously launched satellites: Kosmos-2551, which launched aboard a Soyuz-2.1v rocket in September 2021, and Kosmos-2555, which launched aboard the first orbital Angara 1.2 rocket in April 2022. Based on the report that Kosmos-2560 is EO MKA-3, and that Kosmos-2551 and 2555 were deployed into similar orbits with similar levels of mystery, it is likely that Kosmos-2551 and 2555 are actually EO MKA-1 and MKA-2, respectively. These spacecraft were previously understood to be named EMKA-2 and MKA-R. Plesetsk Cosmodrome The Kosmos-2560 mission was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The cosmodrome was officially founded on Jan. 11, 1957, when the Soviet Union passed a resolution for the founding of a special military site designed to…
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Angara 1.2 launches satellite for Russian Aerospace Forces
