Soyuz-2.1v/Volga - Plesetsk 43/4 - Kosmos 2535/6/7/8 - July 10, 2019 (17:14 UTC)

[Liss]

Launched without any warning today at 20:14 DMV = 17:14 UTC
(yet NOTAMs did exist)

[Satori]

Oh! Like the good old days!!!!

[Alter Sachse]

I don't know if this is a recent photo.

https://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/content/20197102034-4dkRn.html

[Kryten]

I don't know if this is a recent photo.

It's not, google reverse image search picks it up in this article from last year.

[Satori]

So, we should have Kosmos 2535 to Kosmos 2538.

[B. Hendrickx]

https://tass.ru/kosmos/6652076

This is all that has been officially announced so far:
a Soyuz-2-1v was launched from Plesetsk's 43/4 pad at 20.14 Moscow time with four satellites for the Ministry of Defense. The Volga upper stage separated from the second stage at 20.22 Moscow time and it will take several hours for the Volga to deliver the satellites to their final orbits.

My preliminary guess is that one of these is NPO Lavochkin's 14F150 nr. 2 satellite (same type as Cosmos-2519). As is known from this documentation on zakupki.gov.ru, it was supposed to be delivered to Plesetsk in the first quarter of this year.

http://www.zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/documents.html?regNumber=31807390057

The other three may be subsatellites built by the Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (CNIIHM), but let's wait and see what happens in the coming hours.

[Salo]

Success!
https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&nid=512499&lang=RU
Google translate:

Four satellites launched from Plesetsk by the Ministry of Defense went into orbit in normal mode
07/11/2019 12:06:41

       Moscow. July 11th. INTERFAX - Four satellites launched in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense on Wednesday from the Plesetsk cosmodrome with a Soyuz-2.1V carrier rocket, were put into calculated orbits, the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported.
       "The launch vehicle of the light class Soyuz-2.1B, launched on July 10 at 20.14 Moscow time from the state test center Plesetsk (Arkhangelsk region), successfully set the Russian Defense Ministry’s spacecraft into orbit at a fixed time," the military department reported.
       The Russian Defense Ministry noted that the launch of the Soyuz-2.1V rocket and the launching of spacecraft into orbits by the Volga launching unit proceeded normally.
       Earlier it was reported that the launch of the Soyuz-2.1V rocket was carried out at 20.14 Moscow time.
       This is the second launch of the Soyuz-2 rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in 2019.

[Chris Bergin]

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/07/soyuz-2-1v-surprise-military-launch/

- By William Graham

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1149114680335642624

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Launched without any warning today at 20:14 DMV = 17:14 UTC
(yet NOTAMs did exist)

We need to monitor the area for air space closures more often then.
In which direction was this one going to?

[jcm]

Is it possible that the  [3 Rodnik/Strela-3]+[1 Nivelir] missions have been moved to Soyuz-2-1V?
(

[Galactic Penguin SST]

NOTAMs for this launch which we all missed:

https://twitter.com/LaunchStuff/status/1149165122046300160

The pathway looks like a SSO launch to me:

https://twitter.com/LaunchStuff/status/1149166106961203200

[Salo]

https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&nid=512500&lang=RU
Google translate:

Earlier it was reported that the launch of the Soyuz-2.1V rocket was carried out at 20.14 Moscow time. This is the second launch of the Soyuz-2 rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in 2019.

In the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that after the adoption of the control spacecraft assigned serial numbers "Kosmos-2535", "Kosmos-2536", "Kosmos-2537" and "Kosmos-2538".

[nsn]

Russian MoD press release: https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12240751

[Phillip Clark]

No TLEs for this launch yet and it's more than 12 hours after the launch happened.

[Alter Sachse]

launch video

[tehwkd]

Notmars in lime, notams in red

[Steven Pietrobon]

Russian MoD press release: https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12240751

Bing translation of the relevant paragraphs plus some launch preparation and one launch photo. The description does seem to fit Strela-3M/Rodnik-S.

"The spacecraft are designed to study the impact on the spacecraft of the Russian orbital grouping of artificial and natural factors of outer space, the aspiration of radars of the Air and Space Forces .

A stable telemetry link has been established and maintained with spacecraft. Spacecraft's on-board systems are functioning normally."

[Alter Sachse]

https://www.roscosmos.ru/26552/

[catdlr]

Soyuz-2.1v launches Kosmos-2535, Kosmos-2536, Kosmos-2537 and Kosmos-2538


SciNews
Published on Jul 10, 2019

A Soyuz-2.1v launched four military satellites, Kosmos-2535, Kosmos-2536, Kosmos-2537 and Kosmos-2538, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia, on 10 July 2019, at 17:14 UTC (20:14 local time). According to official sources, the satellites were placed into the desired orbits. 

Credit: Roscosmos/ Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation

[smoliarm]

https://www.roscosmos.ru/26552/
Roskosmos says:

Космические аппараты предназначены для ... юстировки радиолокационных средств Воздушно-космических сил.

Russian "юстировка" = "fine tuning" or "fine calibration".
and
"радиолокационных средств" is just a long way to say "radar".

So it seems reasonable to conclude that one of these sats is a radar calibration target.