Kosmos-2181

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Link to this page

https://orbinauts.com/satellites/21902

  • Navigation satellite
  • COSMOS 2181
  • NORAD 21902
  • 1992-012A
  • Low Earth orbit

Current orbit

Where Kosmos-2181 is on the world map, with the orbit it is flying
View on live map

Orbit began over the United States of America

Orbit ends over the Pacific Ocean

In the Earth’s shadow since

Back in sunlight

Past trackNext orbits

In view from you

Nobody watches Kosmos-2181 go over, but a receiver still asks whether it is above the horizon. Say where you are and this card answers.

Your position is rounded to about a kilometre and sent only to the Orbinauts API, to find the pass.

No brightness has been published for Kosmos-2181, so it is not a naked-eye satellite and no city page carries pass times for it. Nothing here estimates one.

Seeing it

There is nothing to go outside for: it is far too high and too faint for the naked eye. What you notice of it is a position fix, and the card above says whether it is above your horizon to give you one.

Timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched, on the day GCAT records. Source

  2. Close approach

    On Tuesday, Oct 20 at 7:11 PM UTC, a fragment of SL-16 (NORAD 27007) was to pass within 173 m of Cosmos 2181 (NORAD 21902). The chance was about 1 in 4,000.

Summary

Over Iran LIVE

Where is Kosmos-2181?

At 6:20:15 PM UTC Kosmos-2181 was over Iran (28.7° N, 54.4° E), 1,002 km up, moving at 7.35 km/s and in the Earth’s shadow.

What is Kosmos-2181?

A navigation satellite in low Earth orbit, in space since Mar 9, 1992.

Can I see Kosmos-2181?

No, not with the naked eye: no brightness has been published for Kosmos-2181, and nothing here estimates one; receivers on the ground use its signals instead, whenever it is above their horizon.

General

Operator
Russian Navy
State
Russian Federation
Built by
PO Polyot
What it is
Navigation satellite
Launched
Mass
800 kg
Operating
No: its regular operations have ended
Orbit class
Low Earth orbit

From GCAT, Jonathan McDowell’s general catalogue, licensed CC BY 4.0: the operator, the state, the manufacturer, what it is for, the launch day, the mass, and whether it is operating. The orbit class is read from its current elements.

Latest orbital data

Position received
6:20 PM UTC
Station time (UTC)
6:20 PM UTC
Latitude / longitude
28.7° N, 54.4° E
Altitude
1,002 km
Speed
7.35 km/s (26,456 km/h)
Course
south
Light
In the Earth’s shadow until 6:40 PM UTC
Inclination
82.9°
Orbital period
104.9 minutes
Orbits per day
13.73
This orbit
966 to 1,009 km
In shadow
33 minutes of each orbit
In view from
Within 2,410 km of the point below it
Elements epoch
Nov 8, 2026, 2:38 AM, 15 hours old
Source
Position from Space-Track orbital elements of Nov 8, 2026, 2:38 AM, 15 hours old.

No operator publishes an ephemeris for Kosmos-2181, so every position here comes from its orbital elements.

In orbit

Close approaches
1 reported. No close approach to Kosmos-2181 is reported for the next three days.

From Space-Track’s public conjunction messages; the latest report was issued Nov 8, 2026, 1:11 PM, 3 hours old. Only approaches serious enough to be reported publicly are listed: within three days and, for two bodies near the Earth, closer than a kilometre with a chance of a collision above 1 in 10,000, the level at which NASA moves the ISS.

See every close approach reported in orbit.

Launched with

Kosmos-2181 shares its launch, 1992-012, with one other body the catalogue lists in orbit.

BodyWhat it is
SL-8 R/BRocket body

Read from the international designators of the US catalogue: the year and the launch number every piece of one launch shares. A body that has come down is no longer listed.

Data and API

The current elements from Space-Track as an OMM object, epoch Nov 8, 2026, 2:38 AM, 15 hours old.

{
  "OBJECT_NAME": "COSMOS 2181",
  "OBJECT_ID": "1992-012A",
  "EPOCH": "2026-11-08T02:38:42.841248",
  "MEAN_MOTION": 13.72578084,
  "ECCENTRICITY": 0.00294542,
  "INCLINATION": 82.9458,
  "RA_OF_ASC_NODE": 201.7802,
  "ARG_OF_PERICENTER": 41.6656,
  "MEAN_ANOMALY": 120.0407,
  "EPHEMERIS_TYPE": 0,
  "CLASSIFICATION_TYPE": "U",
  "NORAD_CAT_ID": 21902,
  "ELEMENT_SET_NO": 999,
  "REV_AT_EPOCH": 73606,
  "BSTAR": 0.000058395667,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DOT": 6.9e-7,
  "MEAN_MOTION_DDOT": 0
}