At 19:57 UTC on Wednesday, March 29, Russia’s Soyuz-2.1v rocket launched from Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, carrying an unknown payload designated Kosmos-2568 to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

The identity of the payload is unknown, but it may be another inspector satellite, similar to one flown on a previous Soyuz-2.1v launch. If Kosmos-2568 is an inspector satellite, it may release a subsatellite later on, as previous inspector satellites have done. Kosmos-2542 was believed to have been an inspector satellite, although never confirmed by Russia, and later went on to release Kosmos-2543.

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