Cosmos 2485

Launch data: Designation  39155 / 13019A Launch date  26 April 2013 - 05:23 UT (1:23 a.m. EDT - 9:23 a.m. Moscou time) Launch site  Plesetsk, LC-43/4 Launch vehicle  Soyuz-2-1B/Fregat-M Mission  Navigation Satellite type  Uragan-M #38 Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  19093 x 19181 km Eccentricity   Inclination  64.7 deg Period  675.7 min

Spacecraft data: Prime contractor  NPO Prikladnoi Mekhaniki (NPO PM) Platform  Uragan-M bus Operator   Mass at launch  1415 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Solar array  2 deployable solar arrays Stabilization  3-axis stabilized DC power   Design lifetime  7 yrs

Artist's concept of the Glonass navigation system. Credit: Roscosmos

Description:

• Operated by the Russian military, the Glonass system broadcasts navigation signals to Russian military and civilian users around the world. It is Russia's counterpart to the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning System.
• The Glonass constellation is scattered among three orbital planes, each designed to contain eight satellites to maximize coverage around the world.
• As of April 25, 2013 the Glonass system included 23 operational satellites, plus two spacecraft undergoing in-orbit maintenance, three orbital spares, and a satellite in testing, according to Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency.
• Friday's Soyuz launch of another Glonass M satellite restores the fleet to 24 operational satellites, the number required to achieve global navigation service.

Mission details:

• A Soyuz-2-1B with a Fregat upper stage placed a single Glonass-M navigation satellite in a 19330 x 19640 km orbit on Apr 26, 2013.
• The Soyuz 2-1b rocket, launching with a modernized digital control system and an upgraded third stage engine, was swallowed by low clouds over the Plesetsk Cosmodrome moments after liftoff.
• The three-stage launcher released a Fregat upper stage and the mission's Glonass M satellite passenger less than 10 minutes later. Three firings of the Fregat main engine injected the Glonass satellite in a circular orbit about 12,000 miles high before separating the 3,119-pound spacecraft at 0855 GMT (4:55 a.m. EDT), or 12:55 p.m. Moscow time.

Satellite tracking: