A Russian KOSMOS 2499 satellite broke up last month – for a second time – according to the Space Force's 18th Space Defense Squadron.
an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who also tracks space debris. That event created 22 pieces of trackable debris.
This satellite has had a curious history. Russia quietly launched KOSMOS 2499 on May 23, 2014. But tracking indicated the satellite performed unusual maneuvers, leading some to speculate that it may be an experimental anti-satellite weapon, satellite maintenance vehicle, or collector of space debris.indicated the satellite was designed to test experimental plasma propulsion engines/ion thrusters.
Both the first and now second breakup event was thought to be caused by an explosion of that propulsion system. LeoLabs, Inc., a commercial provider of low Earth orbit mapping and tracking also tweeted about the current situation, saying that their analysis points toward a low intensity explosion,"due to the asymmetry of the debris cloud, magnitude of the velocity imparted to the fragments, and a known energetic source on board .
ATTN 👉 Our *preliminary* analysis of the Cosmos 2499 fragmentation event points toward a low intensity explosion with moderate confidence.
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