NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 2017-076A
The satellite is officially named Kosmos 2524, keeping with the Russian military’s spacecraft naming scheme. Analysts believe the satellite is the third in the Russian military’s series of Lotos electronic intelligence-gathering missions, following the launch of a Lotos test satellite in November 2009 and a follow-up launch of the first Lotos-S1 payload in December 2014. The 2009 and 2014 missions used Soyuz rockets launched from Plesetsk and released their satellites in the same orbit as Saturday’s flight.
Launch Date: 2017-12-02
Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-2.1b
Launch Site: Plesetsk, Russia
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office