Russia’s new Sarmat ballistic missile exploded during testing, destroying the launch complex. This is evidenced by satellite images taken by Planet and Maxar.
Explosion at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
OSINT analyst MeNMyRC was the first to report the Sarmat accident. He published on social networks the images taken by the Planet satellite. They show a crater that appeared on the site of one of the launch complexes at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Later, the fact of the explosion was confirmed by data from the FIRMS monitoring system, which recorded the fire at the cosmodrome, as well as by more detailed photos taken by Maxar satellites.
According to experts, the source of the explosion was the new RS-28 Sarmat ballistic missile. It has a three-stage design and is intended to replace the R-36M2 missiles, better known in Western countries under the designation “Satan”.
Sarmat is a liquid-propellant missile. This means that its accident may not be directly related to actions to prepare it for launch. However, the most probable scenario is that the explosion occurred exactly during the test.
According to experts, it is likely that the Sarmat’s thrust engine failed to start, after which the rocket collapsed on the launch complex. The explosion not only destroyed the mine and test site, but also caused a forest fire that was detected by FIRMS satellites. Images show at least four fire trucks near the crater.
Satan’s replacement
The Sarmat missile was adopted for service in 2022. It replaced the R-36M2 missile developed in Soviet times by Yuzhnoye SDO. The Russian authorities pompously declared that Sarmat would have almost no restrictions on its strike range: the missile would be able to attack targets not only through the North Pole but also through the South Pole, overcome the missile defense system and carry high-power nuclear supplies, including hypersonic ones.
In reality, however, Sarmat is only capable of posing a threat to Russian cosmodromes for now. According to Western sources, only one missile test in 2022 was a complete success. At least four subsequent Sarmat launches have failed.
Earlier we told you about how NASA satellites detected a huge fire at a Russian ammunition depot.
