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Military launch from Plesetsk A Soyuz-2 rocket likely launched a classified payload from Plesetsk in late hours of Sept. 17, 2026.
The Sept. 17, 2026, launch from Plesetsk at a glance:
In mid-September 2026, Russian authorities announced air and sea navigation restrictions, NOTAMs, that matched an ascent trajectory for such missions as GLONASS. The window extended from Sept. 17 to Sept. 29, 2026, from 11:00 to 23:59 Moscow Time. One restricted area was in the Komi Republic, which matched a drop zone for the payload fairing and the first stage of the Soyuz rocket. Simultaneously, a drop zone was set up in the Pacific Ocean, where the third stage of the same rocket would fall after separating from the Fregat upper stage, just short of orbital velocity. Soon thereafter, the authorities in the Tyumen Region of Russia warned about the planned impact of rocket debris in the Uvatsky District, which would normally be used for the impact of the second stage during routine GLONASS launches. Issued just 24 hours ahead of the opening of the launch window, it was unusually short notice in comparison with previous NOTAMs for launches from Plesetsk, possibly representing a new tactic in response to a continuous threat from Ukrainian strikes against the spaceport. Liftoff In the evening of Sept. 17, 2026, multiple eyewitnesses in the cities of Solikamsk, Kirov, Nizhni Novgorod, Veliky Ustyug as well as across the Perm Region and the Komi Republic reported seeing a typical "jellyfish" effect in the sky usually associated with launches from Plesetsk. The event was reported to be seen around 21:55 local time (19:55 Moscow Time). The Russian Ministry of Defense or the official Russian media made no immediate statements about the launch.
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