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Kosmos 2499 was a Russian
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
orbiting the Earth, before breaking up on January 4, 2023.
Mission
The satellite was launched on May 23, 2014, from Plesetsk, Russia on aRokot
Rokot ( meaning ''Rumble'' or ''Boom''), also transliterated Rockot, was a Soviet Union (later Russian) space launch vehicle that was capable of launching a payload of into a Earth orbit with 63° inclination. It was based on the UR-100N ( ...
/Briz-KM
The Briz-K, Briz-KM and Briz-M ( meaning ''Breeze-K, KM and M'') are Russian liquid-propellant rocket orbit insertion upper stages manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and used on the Proton-M and Angara A5. T ...
launch vehicle along with 3 Rodnik-S satellites. Following launch the spacecraft was provisionally described by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office as Object E until its identity was confirmed. USSPACECOM tracked it under satellite catalog number
The Satellite Catalog Number (SATCAT), also known as NORAD Catalog Number, NORAD ID, USSPACECOM object number, is a sequential nine-digit number assigned by the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM), and previously the North American Aerospac ...
39765.
Some reports have speculated, based on its unusual powered maneuvers, that it may be an experimental anti-satellite weapon
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for Military strategy, strategic or Military tactics, tactical purposes. Although no ASAT system has been utilized in warfare, a few countries (China, ...
, satellite maintenance vehicle, or collector of space debris. Chatham House
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...
research director and space security expert Patricia Lewis stated that "whatever it is, bject 2014-028Elooks experimental."
According to an article published on the official Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT; , also known as PhysTech), is a public university, public research university located in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It prepares specialists in theoretical physics, theoretical and applied physics, ...
website, congratulating the developers on the successful launch and deployment, the satellite is designed to test experimental plasma propulsion engine
A plasma propulsion engine is a type of electric propulsion that generates thrust from a quasi-neutral Plasma (physics), plasma. This is in contrast with ion thruster engines, which generate thrust through extracting an ion current from the ...
s/ ion thrusters, designed by the JSC Reshetnev Company and the Keldysh Research Center. The article states that the engines are part of a new generation of Hall effect thruster
In spacecraft propulsion, a Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a type of ion thruster in which the propellant is accelerated by an electric field. Hall-effect thrusters (based on the discovery by Edwin Hall) are sometimes referred to as Hall thrust ...
s 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.
Post-mission
In December 2021 USSPACECOM catalogued 18debris
Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded waste, garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can ref ...
associated with Kosmos 2499.
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 altitude.
See also
* 2014 in spaceflight * Cold War II *Istrebitel Sputnikov
Istrebitel Sputnikov, or IS (, ИС, meaning "destroyer of satellites"), was a Soviet Union, Soviet anti-satellite weapons programme which led to the deployment of the IS-A or I2P system during the 1970s and 1980s. IS satellites were originally ...
* X-37B
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosmos 2499 Kosmos satellites Spacecraft launched in 2014 2014 in Russia Spacecraft that broke apart in space