On 21 December 2023, at 11:48:39 MSK (08:48:39 UTC) crews of the Air and Space Forces conducted a successful launch of a Soyuz 2.1a launcher* from the launch pad No. 4 of the launch complex No. 43 of the Plesetsk test site.

According to an official statement, the satellite is designated Cosmos-2573. It was registered as object 58614 by NORAD and received international designation 2023-201A.

The satellite delivered into orbit is believed to be a digital cartographic satellite 14F148 Bars-M. This is the fifth launch of satellites of the Bars-M type. The previous launch took place in March 2023.

*Roscosmos lists the launcher as Soyuz-2.1a in its table while quoting the ministry of defense report that identifies it as Soyuz-2.1b. Previous Bars-M launches used the 2.1a launcher.