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According to TASS , citing data from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), on the morning of May 18, the satellite deorbited and entered the atmosphere. The object no longer exists at this time.
It is noted that the Kosmos-2555 satellite was launched into orbit using the Angara-1.2 light launch vehicle on April 29 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry. A few hours later, the military department reported that the device had been successfully launched into the target orbit. The purpose of the satellite was not reported. At the same time, the letter Z in the colors of the St. George ribbon was applied to the satellite - a symbol of the aggressive war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
As Vitaly Yegorov, an expert and promoter of astronautics, told The Insider , it could be a visual reconnaissance satellite that conducted optical observation.
According to him, on May 18, the satellite did not give radio signals and did not stay in orbit. They wanted to correct its trajectory by turning on the engines, but this did not give results. Kosmos-2555 was able to carry out only one short-term orbital correction for 15 days - on May 6th. After that, its orbit decreased, but in 10-12 days it lost 30 kilometers and dropped to an altitude of about 260 km. In the next three days, the fall of the satellite accelerated, it approached the Earth at a distance of 120 km.
It is noted that the Russian Federation has almost no optical observation satellites in orbit. And those that are still flying are ending their service life. At the same time, the creation and launch of new devices are hampered by Western sanctions.
According to experts, only two military optical reconnaissance satellites Person, which were launched in 2013-2015, are currently in orbit.
Space program analyst Bart Hendricks told Radio Liberty that the next such satellites will not be launched until 2023 at the earliest.
In principle, Russia is now in orbit is almost blind, - he said.
However, even if there were enough RF satellites, their constellation must be constantly updated due to the low service life of the devices. They are half that of the American ones, due to the lack of high-quality electronics.
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