# Cosmos 2233
**Wikidata**: [Q12753672](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12753672)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/cosmos-2233

## Summary
Cosmos 2233 (also spelled Kosmos 2233) is a Soviet-era military navigation and data-relay satellite that was launched on 9 February 1993 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It belongs to the Parus (“Sail”) series that provided positioning services and store-dump communications for the Soviet (later Russian) Navy.

## Key Facts
- **Launch date**: 9 February 1993 at 02:56:56 UTC  
- **Launch vehicle**: Kosmos-3M rocket (serial not disclosed)  
- **Launch site**: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Site 133  
- **International designations**: COSPAR 1993-008A · NORAD 22487  
- **Satellite class**: Parus (military navigation & data relay)  
- **Country/operator**: Soviet Union → Russian Federation  
- **Mission type**: Store-dump communications and radio-navigation for naval forces  
- **Wikipedia coverage**: articles in Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian, and Serbo-Croatian (4 sitelinks total)

## FAQs
### Q: What was Cosmos 2233 used for?
A: It relayed store-and-dump messages between naval units and headquarters and broadcast a dual-frequency radio-navigation signal that allowed ships and submarines to obtain position fixes when operating beyond land-based navaids.

### Q: Is Cosmos 2233 still in orbit?
A: The source material does not state an end-of-mission or decay date; like other Parus satellites it was placed in a ~1,000 km near-circular orbit and is presumed still on-orbit as space debris.

### Q: How does Cosmos 2233 differ from civilian navigation satellites?
A: Parus satellites transmit encrypted military signals and carry a UHF payload for burst message relay, capabilities not found on civilian systems such as Tsikada or GLONASS.

### Q: Why was a Kosmos-3M rocket chosen?
A: Kosmos-3M was the standard Soviet light-lift launcher for Parus spacecraft, offering reliable injection into 83° inclination orbits from high-latitude Plesetsk pads.

## Why It Matters
Cosmos 2233 was one of the last Parus satellites launched before the Soviet Union dissolved, closing a gap that kept the Red Fleet connected across the world’s oceans. The Parus network gave Soviet warships, ballistic-missile submarines, and maritime reconnaissance aircraft a survivable, jam-resistant means of receiving orders and fixing their positions without exposing their location by transmitting. Even after 1993, the constellation continued to serve the Russian Navy, freeing it from dependence on foreign systems during a decade when Russia had limited resources to build replacements. Today, historians and engineers study Cosmos 2233’s design heritage because its navigation package was the direct precursor to the civilian Tsikada and, ultimately, to elements of Russia’s current GLONASS military signal.

## Notable For
- Final Parus launch of the Soviet period (USSR dissolved 26 Dec 1991; satellite launched 1993 under Russian auspices)  
- One of the few Soviet military payloads to carry both navigation and store-dump comms on the same spacecraft bus  
- Continues a 1974-1993 run of 99 Parus missions, giving the Russian Navy the longest-lived dedicated military small-sat constellation of the Cold War

## Body
### Spacecraft & Mission
Cosmos 2233 is a member of the Parus (“Sail”) family developed by the Reshetnev design bureau. The standard Parus bus is a 0.85 m diameter, ~700 kg cylinder covered with solar cells and stabilized by gravity-gradient booms. An onboard memory bank stores short digital messages uplinked from naval stations; the satellite later downlinks them in burst mode to ships or submarines within view. A separate radio-navigation payload continuously broadcasts dual-frequency carriers at 150 and 400 MHz, allowing users to compute one- or two-dimensional position fixes.

### Launch Sequence
On 9 February 1993 the Kosmos-3M two-stage liquid-fuelled rocket lifted off from Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 133. Liftoff occurred at 02:56:56 UTC. Roughly 40 min later the payload was injected into a near-circular 1,000 km orbit inclined 83° to the equator, standard for Parus missions. Western space-track radars catalogued the object as 1993-008A (NORAD ID 22487).

### Operational Context
By 1993 the Soviet Union had already fragmented, but naval forces still required global communications. Cosmos 2233 replenished the existing Parus constellation, ensuring redundancy for the Northern, Pacific, Black-Sea and Baltic fleets. No public end-of-life notice was issued; like earlier Parus craft it is expected to remain in orbit for centuries before atmospheric drag causes re-entry.

## References

1. Jonathan's Space Report