Satellite images show crater after failed Russian Sarmat missile test

A Russian RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile likely failed during a test earlier this month, according to defense experts and satellite images from the launch site.

Maxar satellite images from September 21 show a crater about 60 meters wide at the launch silo at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, as well as damage in the surrounding area that was not visible in images from earlier this month.

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Russia: In Arkhangelsk, tests of the new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile RS-28 Sarmat (Satan II) have reportedly failed again: The huge missile apparently exploded in the silo during launch, leaving a huge crater. pic.twitter.com/HcogAfV9ad

— Eliyahu Cohen 🎗️ (@LetJewsLive) 23 September 2024

It was not clear from the images whether the liquid-fueled Sarmat failed to take off or whether an accident occurred during defueling.

“It appears that the test failed. It's a big hole in the ground,” said Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based analyst who heads the Russian nuclear forces project.

“There was a serious incident involving the missile and the silo.”

The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment and has not made any announcements about planned Sarmat tests in recent days.

The 35-meter-long RS-28 Sarmat, known as Satan II, has a range of 18,000 km (11,000 miles) and a takeoff weight of over 208 tons, and can carry up to 16 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle-type nuclear warheads, as well as several Avangard-type hypersonic glide vehicles, according to Russian media.

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