Kosmos 2501 (russian: Космос 2501 meaning ''Cosmos 2501''), also known as Glonass-K1 No.12L is a Russian

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

which was launched in 2014. The second

Glonass-K GLONASS-K is the latest satellite design intended as a part of the Russian GLONASS radio-based satellite navigation system. Developed by ISS Reshetnev (Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev) and first launched on 26 February 2011, it is a sub ...

satellite to be launched, it is the second of two Glonass-K1 spacecraft which will serve as prototypes for the operational Glonass-K2 spacecraft. Kosmos 2501 is a satellite, which was built by

ISS Reshetnev JSC Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev (russian: Информационные спутниковые системы имени академика М. Ф. Решетнёва, Informatsionnye sputnikovye systemy imeny akademika M. F. Reshetnyov ...

based on the Ekspress-1000A

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus-d ...

. The spacecraft has three-axis stabilisation to keep it in the correct orientation, and will broadcast signals in the L1, L2 and L3 navigation bands for Russian military and commercial users. In addition to its navigation payloads, the satellite also carries a

Cospas-Sarsat The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme is a satellite-aided search and rescue (SAR) initiative. It is organized as a treaty-based, nonprofit, intergovernmental, humanitarian cooperative of 45 nations and agencies (see infobox). It is dedi ...

search and rescue payload. The satellite is located in a

medium Earth orbit A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level.

with a

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...

of , an

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ellip ...

of , and 64.8° of

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a Plane of reference, reference plane and the orbital plane or Axis of rotation, axis of direction of the orbiting object ...

. It is equipped with two

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s to generate power, and is expected to remain in service for ten years. Kosmos 2501 was launched from Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwest Russia. A

Soyuz-2.1b Soyuz-2 (GRAU index 14A14) is a modernized version of the Soviet Soyuz rocket. In its basic form, it is a three-stage launch vehicle for placing payloads into low Earth orbit. Compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz, the first-stage bo ...

carrier rocket with a Fregat upper stage was used to perform the launch, which took place at 21:52:26 UTC on 30 November 2014. The launch successfully placed the satellite into a

Medium Earth orbit A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level.

. It subsequently received its Kosmos designation, and the International Designator 2014-075A. The United States Space Command assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 40315.

References

{{GLONASS Spacecraft launched in 2014 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-2 rockets 2014 in Russia Kosmos satellites GLONASS satellites