Kosmos 2480

Kosmos 2480
Mission type Reconnaissance satellite
Operator GRU
COSPAR ID 2012-024A
SATCAT № 38335
Start of mission
Launch date 17 May 2012, 18:05 (2012-05-17UTC18:05Z) UTC
Rocket Soyuz-U
Launch site Plesetsk 16/2
End of mission
Landing date 24 September 2012 (2012-09-25Z) UTC[1]
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth Orbit[2]
Perigee 186 kilometres (116 mi)[2]
Apogee 255 kilometres (158 mi)[2]
Inclination 81.3 degrees
Period 88.9 minutes

Kosmos 2480 (Russian: Космос 2480 meaning Cosmos 2480) is a Russian Kobalt-M reconnaissance satellite [3] which was launched in 2012 by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. It was the last launch of a Soyuz-U rocket launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome.[4]

Kosmos 2480 was launched from Site 16/2 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The last Soyuz-U carrier rocket launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome was used to perform the launch, which took place at 18:05 UTC on 17 May 2012. The launch successfully placed the satellite into low earth orbit. It subsequently received its Kosmos designation, and the international designator 2012-024A.[5] The United States Space Command assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 38335.[6]

Ground track of Kosmos 2480

Kobalt-M

Kobalt-M satellites are a type of Yantar satellite, Yantar-4K2M. They have the GRAU index 11F695M. They are optical reconnaissance satellites which use film. The satellite sends two film capsules to earth and returns to earth itself at the end of its mission.[7] This has the disadvantage that the satellite's life is dependent on how much film it can carry, and information from the satellite is not obtained until the film canister has returned to earth and been developed.[8]

The satellite returned to earth on 24 September 2012.[1]

The previous satellite of this class, Kosmos 2472, was launched on 27 June 2011 and returned to earth on 24 October 2011.[9]

See also

External links

References

  1. 1 2 "Kobalt-M". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Pavel, Podvig (2012-05-17). "Cosmos-2480 - new Kobalt-M reconnaissance spacecraft". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  4. ↑ "Russia successfully launches military satellite". Xinhua. 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  5. ↑ "Cosmos 2480". National Space Science Data Centre. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  6. ↑ "2012-024". Zarya. n.d. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  7. ↑ Krebs, Gunter. "Yantar-4K2M (Kobalt-M, 11F695M ?)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  8. ↑ Podvig, Pavel; Zuang, Hui (2008). Russian and Chinese Responses to US Military Plans in Space (PDF). Cambridge, MA: American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ISBN 0-87724-068-X.
  9. ↑ Pavel, Podvig (2011-10-24). "Cosmos-2472 completed its mission". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
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