A mysterious Russian spacecraft makes more maneuvers
A mysterious Russian satellite, Kosmos-2499, originally thought to be space junk, has not only performed some additional maneuvers, it has begun transmitting its telemetry to Earth using Morse code!
Though the spacecraft is thought to be very small, it has managed to make some very impressive maneuvers.
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A mysterious Russian satellite, Kosmos-2499, originally thought to be space junk, has not only performed some additional maneuvers, it has begun transmitting its telemetry to Earth using Morse code!
Though the spacecraft is thought to be very small, it has managed to make some very impressive maneuvers.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Checking their results using Satellite Tool Kit and orbital elements from http://www.space-track.org, I determined that the two spacecraft were as close as 0.256 km on Nov 25/09:34 UTC. But it didn’t seem to spend “most” of that day between 0.5 km and 1km. It was more like half the day below 1 km, but the range was from 0.25km to 2.5 km for the day (1 km average). And the distance varied through the ~13 orbits, but less a function of the “maneuvering” and more a function of the orbits of the two vehicles.
After Nov 25 and prior to Nov 29, the distance drifted to 16 km. On Nov 29, I determined it to get as close as ~3 km, but nothing like what they said…
“After several days of orbiting the Earth at an average altitude from 20 to 30 meters below Briz-KM, Kosmos-2499 climbed few dozen of meters above the stage on November 29, 2014, estimates showed.”.
Not sure where they are getting their orbital elements from. From the orbital elements, it appears to lowered its perigee from starting July 28 (1457 km) to Aug 21 (939 km) in five maneuvers, then raised it Oct 28 to 1082 km and Nov 8 to 1171 km.
Does your analysis tell you anything about the satellite itself? Is it doing anything particularly special?
If you are asking whether I can deduce its purpose, no. Likely surveillance, I bet. Its hard to match orbits of a satellite. You need to match alot of parameters (apogee height, perigee height, inclination, etc). That’s the reason they are using the rocket body they launched it with originally as the target…. its already relatively similar.
Our tracking network is reporting alot of orbital elements of the objects (about 2 per day). These elements do have some built in error, but likely not >1km.
But it does seem to be firing rockets. Some people thought it was ion propulsion, but looking at the change in perigee over a short time periods suggests regular rocket thrusters, not the slow changes in altitude you would get from ion engines. It lowered perigee five times (five events) from July 28 to Aug 21 starting at 1464 km taking it down to 940 km in increments of altitude each time. Then it raised perigee twice from Oct 27 to Nov 11 from 958 km to 1169 km (the perigee of the Rocket body).