Operator Russia SATCAT no. 39765 Reference system Geocentric Launch date 23 May 2014 Inclination 82.44° Apogee 1.512 million m | COSPAR ID 2014-028E Rocket Rokot/Briz-KM Regime Low Earth Inclination 82.44° Period 1.9 hours Launch site Plesetsk Cosmodrome | |
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Similar Kosmos 2501, UniSat‑6, BugSat 1, UAPSat‑1, DirecTV‑14 | ||
Russia s kosmos 2499 space junk or satellite killer
Kosmos 2499 (International Designator 2014-028E, catalogue number 39765) is a Russian satellite currently orbiting the Earth.
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Mission
The satellite was launched on May 23, 2014, from Plesetsk, Russia on a Rokot/Briz-KM launch vehicle. Following launch the spacecraft was provisionally described by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office as Object E until its identity was confirmed. NORAD tracked it under the designation Norad 39765.
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. Chatham House research director and space security expert Patricia Lewis stated that "whatever it is, [Object 2014-280E] looks experimental."
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. 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.
