Experts from LeoLabs, an American firm, have made an intriguing comparison between the Russian military satellite Kosmos-2570 and the famous “Matryoshka” Russian nesting dolls in space. The satellite, like a nested doll, revealed Object C on October 30, which later led to the birth of a new entity known as Object D on November 23.
Interestingly, this is not the first occurrence of such an event recorded by the satellite. In 2022, another object was launched from the body of Cosmos-2565, named Cosmos-2566, according to US observers. American authorities have struggled to distinguish these separated objects from the Russian satellites and have noted that their presence significantly disrupts the operations of other satellites.
What are Object C and Object D?
Currently, the nature of both Object C and Object D remains undisclosed, not just by Russian media outlets, including the Russian Space Web. Information from the source indicates that the launch of Kosmos-2570 occurred on October 27.
Based on Russian experts’ analysis, the satellite carried what’s known as a semi-classified payload, referred to as Lotos-S1 or 14F145. This was the eighth instance of the Liana constellation, conducting electronic reconnaissance in space for the Russian military forces.
Supporting the conjectures made by LeoLabs, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed that the rocket successfully delivered “more than one spacecraft” into orbit following its launch.
Trajectory
On October 27, 2023, a rocket carrying a military satellite successfully launched from Pad 3 to Pad 43 in Plesetsk at around 09:00 local Moscow time or 2 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time [EDT]. By examining data from previous Liana constellation launches and air traffic advisories, experts accurately predicted the flight scenario for this mission.
S18 fall zone
While the rocket ascended, its four boosters detached about two minutes into the flight, targeting the S15 fall zone, and then the payload cover was discarded to the S16 drop zone. Approximately five minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s booster stopped working and separated.
Shortly before the separation of the second stage, the third stage’s RD-0124 engine ignited through the interstage lattice structure. It was anticipated that both the tail segments and the second stage booster would fall within the S18 fall zone located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region.
At about nine minutes into the flight, the third stage ceased firing and deployed the payload into an initial orbit.
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