Russia has launched a new satellite type designed to give early warning of ballistic missile attack. Cosmos 2510 is the first satellite in the EKS (Edinaya Kosmicheskaya Sistema meaning Unified Space System) designed to replace the OKO early warning satellites. The satellite was launched by a Soyuz 2-1b Fregat M into a “Tundra” inclined highly elliptical “geosynchronous” orbit which has a period of 24 hours. The launch took place from the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia.
The Cosmos 2510 spacecraft has secondary communications role with secure emergency communications payload to be used in the case of a nuclear war. The spacecraft was built by RSC Energia and uses a primary infrared sensor built by Central science and research instutute Kometa.
