On February 27, 2015 at 11:01 UTC the “Soyuz-2.1a” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket orbited the “Kosmos-2503” satellite. It is a next-generation military reconnaissance satellite.The secretive satellite — the first in the so-called the Bars M series — is believed to carry a high-resolution digital camera to collect global imagery for Russian military forces. Its exact capabilities are kept secret by Russian authorities. The Bars M satellite’s Karat electro-optical camera was developed by the Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association, and the satellite is expected to operate at least five years, according to documents posted on a Russian government procurement website.