Kosmos 2441 (Russian: Космос 2441 meaning Cosmos 2441), also known as Persona No.1, was a Russian optical reconnaissance satellite launched in 2008. The first Persona satellite, it failed a few months into its mission, which was scheduled to have lasted three to five years. It was the first Russian reconnaissance satellite to be placed into a Sun-synchronous orbit.[3]
Kosmos 2441 was launched by a Soyuz-2-1b carrier rocket flying from Site 43/4 of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 18:31:36 UTC on 26 July 2008,[4] and marked the first Soyuz-2-1b launch from Plesetsk. Following its successful deployment the satellite was given its Kosmos designation, and was assigned the International Designator 2008-037A and Satellite Catalog Number 33272.[5]
In February 2009, it was reported that Kosmos 2441 had failed shortly after launch.[6] The date of the failure was not announced, however the satellite was last seen to manoeuvre in September 2008.[7] The cause of the failure was reported to be an electrical problem, possibly caused by higher radiation levels encountered by the satellite in sun-synchronous orbit compared to previous satellites in lower-inclination orbits.[6] The next Persona satellite was not launched until 2013, when it was placed into orbit as Kosmos 2486.[8]
References
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Persona (14F137)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d McDowell, Jonathan (12 August 2008). "Issue 598". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ Podvig, Pavel (26 July 2008). "Launch of Cosmos-2441 - first Persona optical reconnaissance satellite". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. RussianForces.org.
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ a b Zak, Anatoly. "Persona (14F137) spy satellite". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ Podvig, Pavel (13 February 2009). "Persona satellite failure". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. RussianForces.org. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ Podvig, Pavel (7 June 2013). "Launch of Cosmos-2486 - Persona optical reconnaissance satellite". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. RussianForces.org. Retrieved 29 June 2013.