CLASSIFIED
COSMOS 2538
Russian Military Satellite (Undisclosed) · Russian Ministry of Defence
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Cosmos 2538, a Russian military satellite whose function has never been officially disclosed — one more entry in a numbering system Russia has used since 1962 specifically so that neither its own public nor foreign intelligence services can infer what a given satellite does simply from its name.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 296–332 mi (476–534 km)
- Inclination
- 97.6°
- One orbit
- 94.6 minutes15.2 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 44424
- Int’l designator
- 2019-039D
- Launched
- 2019
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More classified
- COSMOS 2540Russian Military Satellite (Undisclosed)
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- COSMOS 2546 (EKS 4)Russian Nuclear Missile Early Warning Satellite (Tundra/EKS — Likely Inactive)
- COSMOS 2548Russian Military Satellite (Undisclosed)
- COSMOS 2549Russian Military Satellite (Undisclosed)
- COSMOS 2550Russian Military Satellite (Undisclosed)