Cosmos 2472

Launch data:

Mission details:

• Photo reconnaissance. Will return cannisters to Earth after about 120 days.
• The spacecraft was launched into a 195 x 337 km x 81.5 deg orbit on Jun 27, moving to a 217 x 338 km x 81.4 deg orbit on Jun 29.
• From Jun 29 to Aug 14 the spacecraft was kept between roughly 215-223 x 315-340 km with orbit reboost burns on Jul 17 and Aug 1. Then the orbit was lowered to 210 x 245 km, and for the remainder of the mission was reboosted to 210 x 250 km each time apogee decayed to around 220 km. Boosts occur rent on Aug 31, Sep 2, 13 and 23, Oct 1 and 12. The final orbit on Oct 24 was 200 x 242 km.
• This is the first Russian spy satellite launch to 81-82 degree orbit since 1994 and the first to the once-popular 81.4 deg value since 1979; the 81-degree orbit was previously used from the 1960s to the 1990s for monitoring the break-up of Arctic ice, in particular by the Fram satellites (1975-1985).
  The satellite probably carried two SpK small film recovery capsules which shall jettisoned and deorbited to a parachute landing sometime during the mission
• The Cosmos-2472 imaging satellite landed on Oct 24, 2011. The Kobal't-M class satellite fired its Ikar-class propulsion system to deorbit around 2020-2030 UTC; the Yantar'-type descent module then separated, re-entered around 2037 UTC and landed at about 2048 UTC after a 119.2-day flight.