Russian Secret Satellite demolishes for the Second Time, creating space Debris

A Russian Secret Satellite known as Kosmos-2499 was launched into space in May 2014 and experienced a second demise. The cause of its disintegration is unknown, and maybe we can never find out its break apart reason for the satellite’s mysterious and unclear history.

This incident occurred on January 3, 2023, at 10:57 pm at an estimated height of 727 miles. And on February 6, the U.S. Space Force Department, 18th Squadron (Space Defense unit) confirmed the demolition of Kosmos-2499 in a tweet.

Now the squadron is tracking 85 fragments of debris associated with the unexplained breakup incident and contributing to the growing orbital debris. The components will take at least 100 years to fall back to Earth.

It is possible that Kosmos-2499 was struck with space debris or micrometeorite, but the satellite’s former suspicious space behavior indicates that it simply bursts.

In 2013, the Kosmos-2499 spacecraft and three other Rodnik kind Russian satellites were launched. But it was not listed in the rocket payload, so U.S. trackers assumed it was space trash (2014-028E). However, when the spacecraft performed a series of orbital changes, the U.S. renamed it a payload rather than space debris by October 2014. It continued these orbital changes until 2017.

 Afterward, the U.S. military checked its orbital parameters three or four times a day. And McDowell named it a Russian “Nivelir project spacecraft,” which aims to build small satellites for inspecting other satellites.