# Cosmos 2407
**Wikidata**: [Q13566829](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13566829)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/cosmos-2407

## Summary
Cosmos 2407 is a Russian military navigation and communication satellite, launched on 22 July 2004 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Kosmos-3M rocket. It belongs to the Parus (a.k.a. “Sail”) series that has provided dual-use positioning and store-dump messaging for Soviet/Russian naval forces since the 1970s.

## Key Facts
- NORAD catalog number: 28380
- International designator (COSPAR ID): 2004-028A
- Launch date/time: 22 July 2004 at 17:46:28 UTC
- Launch site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Site 132/1, Russia
- Launch vehicle: Kosmos-3M (11K65M) two-stage liquid-fuel rocket
- Satellite class: Parus (also transliterated “Kosmos-2407”)
- Primary roles: military navigation, Doppler positioning, and data relay for maritime users
- Orbit regime: Low-Earth orbit (exact altitude not stated in source)
- Wikipedia coverage: articles exist in Croatian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian, and Serbian (4 sitelinks total)

## FAQs
### Q: What kind of satellite is Cosmos 2407?
A: It is a Parus-class spacecraft built for the Russian Ministry of Defence, combining navigation fixes and store-and-forward messaging services for ships and submarines.

### Q: When and where did Cosmos 2407 launch?
A: The satellite lifted off on 22 July 2004 at 17:46 UTC from Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 132, carried by a Kosmos-3M rocket.

### Q: Is Cosmos 2407 still operational?
A: The provided sources do not specify an end-of-mission date; Parus satellites typically operate for several years, but no current status is confirmed.

## Why It Matters
Cosmos 2407 continues a four-decade lineage of Soviet/Russian naval support satellites that pre-date full deployment of the GLONASS constellation. Parus spacecraft give Russian warships, submarines, and auxiliary vessels autonomous position fixes when higher-precision systems are unavailable or denied, and they provide burst-communication windows for small data packets in polar regions where geostationary relay satellites offer poor coverage. By maintaining this capability, Cosmos 2407 and its sister craft underpin Russia’s ability to operate dispersed naval task groups beyond coastal radio ranges without relying on foreign navigation or commercial satellite constellations. The launch also demonstrated the continued utility of the low-cost, highly reliable Kosmos-3M launcher, which had already logged more than 400 flights by 2004.

## Notable For
- One of the last Parus deployments before the Russian Federation shifted emphasis to GLONASS-M and civilian navigation satellites
- Launched aboard Kosmos-3M, a rocket family first flown in 1967 and prized for its simplicity and 95%+ success rate
- Carries the international designation 2004-028A, marking it as the first object catalogued from the 28th launch of 2004
- Continues a Soviet-era program that began with Cosmos 700 in 1974, illustrating long-term continuity in Russian military space architecture

## Body
### Program Context
Parus (Russian for “Sail”) is the generic name applied to a series of roughly cylindrical, ~800 kg satellites placed in ~1,000 km near-circular orbits. Each spacecraft hosts a Doppler transmitter at 150 and 400 MHz plus a UHF store-dump payload that allows ground or maritime terminals to upload short messages for later relay. The series provided the Soviet Navy with its first dedicated satellite navigation system, later complemented by Tsikada for civil use and ultimately by GLONASS.

### Launch Details
On 22 July 2004 the Russian Space Forces stacked the 2,100 kg Kosmos-3M booster on pad 132/1 at Plesetsk, the nation’s principal military launch complex south of Arkhangelsk. Liftoff occurred at 17:46:28 UTC; roughly nine minutes later the two-stage rocket released Cosmos 2407 into its operational low-Earth orbit. Western space-tracking networks catalogued the object as 2004-028A/28380 on the same day.

### Mission Profile
No public disclosure exists of the exact operational timeline, but Parus satellites typically separate from the rocket in a 970–1,020 km orbit, inclined 83°, providing global coverage between about ±83° latitude. The craft deploys four solar panels and begins transmitting two coherent carriers for Doppler navigation fixes. Naval users compute position to within a few hundred meters; the onboard memory later downlinks stored messages when the satellite passes within range of Russian ground stations.

## References

1. Jonathan's Space Report