Russia Launches Lotos S-5 Intelligence Satellite

Soyuz launches Lotos S-5 | Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense

On Thursday, April 7 at 7:20am EDT (11:20 UTC), the Russian Aerospace Forces launched the Lotos S-5 satellite atop a Roscosmos-built Soyuz 2.1b rocket from Site 43/3 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. The Lotos satellites are reconnaissance satellites designed to replace the the Soviet Tselina and US-PM satellites. This was the 37th orbital launch attempt of 2022 and the 73rd Soyuz 2.1b launch.