Kosmos 2499
OperatorRussia
COSPAR ID2014-028E
SATCAT no.39765
Start of mission
Launch date23 May 2014, 05:27:54 (2014-05-23UTC05:27:54Z) UTC[1]
RocketRokot/Briz-KM
Launch sitePlesetsk 133/3
End of mission
DestroyedJanuary 4 2023, 03:57 (2023-01-04UTC03:58Z) UTC[1]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude1,156 kilometres (718 mi)[2]
Apogee altitude1,512 kilometres (940 mi)[2]
Inclination82.44 degrees[2]
Period112.19 minutes[2]
Epoch25 January 2015, 03:55:30 UTC[2]
 

Kosmos 2499[3] was a Russian satellite orbiting the Earth, before breaking up on January 4, 2023.

Mission

The satellite was launched on May 23, 2014, from Plesetsk, Russia on a Rokot/Briz-KM launch vehicle along with 3 Rodnik-S satellites.[1] Following launch the spacecraft was provisionally described by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office as Object E until its identity was confirmed.[4] USSPACECOM tracked it under satellite catalog number 39765.[5]

Some reports have speculated, based on its unusual powered maneuvers, that it may be an experimental anti-satellite weapon, satellite maintenance vehicle, or collector of space debris.[5][3][6] Chatham House research director and space security expert Patricia Lewis stated that "whatever it is, [Object 2014-028E] looks experimental."[7]

According to an article published on the official Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology website, congratulating the developers on the successful launch and deployment, the satellite is designed to test experimental plasma propulsion engines/ion thrusters, designed by the JSC Reshetnev Company and the Keldysh Research Center.[8][9] The article states that the engines are part of a new generation of Hall effect thrusters and are designed to be able to shift a spacecraft on an east-west and north-south axis using a fraction of the energy required by current propulsion systems.[8][9]

Russian Stationary Plasma Thrusters

Post-mission

In December 2021 USSPACECOM catalogued 18 debris associated with Kosmos 2499.[10]

On February 6, 2023, US Space Command confirmed that the breakup of Kosmos 2499 had occurred on January 4, 2023, at 03:57 UTC. They catalogued 85 associated pieces, orbiting at 1,169 kilometres (726 mi) altitude.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "COSMOS 2499 Satellite details 2014-028E NORAD 39765". N2YO. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 Brid-Aine Parnell (18 November 2014). "Call 007! SECRET RUSSIAN ORBITAL WEAPON being tracked by NORAD". The Register. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Orbital Debris Quarterly News, Volume 18, Issue 3, July 2014" (PDF). NASA. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  5. 1 2 Sam Jones (2014-11-17). "Object 2014-28E – Space junk or Russian satellite killer?". Financial Times.
  6. ↑ Graff, Garrett M. (June 26, 2018). "The New Arms Race Threatening to Explode in Space". Wired. In the years since, Object 2014-28E has been joined by similar space objects of Russian provenance. Analysts fear that they might mark the revival of a Russian program known as Satellite Killer, which was shut down after the Cold War.
  7. ↑ Andrew Griffin (2014-11-18). "Is Russia flying a satellite killer around space? Unidentified Russian satellite prompts space weapon worries". Irish Independent.
  8. 1 2 "Объект 2014−28E". Сделано у нас. 19 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Плазменные двигатели нового поколения успешно начали штатную работу в космосе". mipt.ru.
  10. ↑ Kelso, T.S. [@TSKelso] (December 8, 2021). "CelesTrak has TLEs for 18 objects that appear to be associated with a debris event involving the dead COSMOS 2499 satellite launched 2014-05-23. Based on the TLEs, the event appears to have occurred sometime on 2021-10-24" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 December 2021 – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ 18th Space Defense Squadron [@18thSDS] (February 7, 2023). "18 SDS has confirmed the breakup of COSMOS 2499" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 February 2023 – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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