Kosmos 2261

Kosmos 2261
Mission type Early warning
COSPAR ID 1993-051A
SATCAT № 22741
Mission duration 4 years [1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type US-K [2]
Launch mass 1,900 kilograms (4,200 lb)[3]
Start of mission
Launch date 10 August 1993, 14:53 (1993-08-10UTC14:53Z) UTC
Rocket Molniya-M/2BL[2]
Launch site Plesetsk Cosmodrome[2][3]
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Molniya [2]
Perigee 625 kilometres (388 mi)[4]
Apogee 39,725 kilometres (24,684 mi)[4]
Inclination 62.9 degrees[4]
Period 717.70 minutes[4]

Kosmos 2261 (Russian: Космос 2261 meaning Cosmos 2261) is a Russian US-K missile early warning satellite which was launched in 1993 as part of the Russian Space Forces' Oko programme. The satellite is designed to identify missile launches using optical telescopes and infrared sensors.[2] It was estimated in the west that it stopped functioning in March 1998,[5] and reentered destructively on December 31, 2012.[6] (the early morning of January 1, 2013 in some time zones)

Kosmos 2261 was launched from Site 16/2 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.[7] A Molniya-M carrier rocket with a 2BL upper stage was used to perform the launch, which took place at 14:53 UTC on 10 August 1993.[3] The launch successfully placed the satellite into a molniya orbit. It subsequently received its Kosmos designation, and the international designator 1993-051A.[3] The United States Space Command assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 22741.[3]

Its predicted re-entry time was December 31, 2012 at 11:29 UTC ± 2 hours.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Podvig, Pavel (2002). "History and the Current Status of the Russian Early-Warning System" (pdf). Science and Global Security. 10: 21–60. doi:10.1080/08929880212328. ISSN 0892-9882.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "US-K (73D6)". Gunter's Space Page. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cosmos 2261". National Space Science Data Centre. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  5. ↑ N. Busch - No End in Sight (2004) - Page 97 (Google Books link)]
  6. 1 2 Aerospace.org - Cosmos 2261
  7. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2 May 2012.

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.