Russia confesses: we have launched a secret inspection satellite

by David Todd | Aug 24, 2017 | Military space, Russia

The Russian Ministry of Defence has formally admitted that the June launch of COSMOS 2519 – a military satellite meant for geodesy (gravity mapping) – also had a small inspection satellite aboard the larger spacecraft. Russia is keen to note that this was for the inspection of its own COSMOS 2519 satellite rather than anyone else’s. SPUTNIK-INSPEKTOR deployed from COSMOS 2519 on 23 August 2017. Russia is thought to have launched inspection satellites before with COSMOS 2499 and COSMOS 2504 suspected of being a similar type.

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