Kosmos-2558 Mission
8/1/2022
Ground-based facilities of the Russian Aerospace Forces established and maintained telemetry connection with Kosmos-2558 after its August 1, 2022 launch.
Dutch radio amateur Cees Bassa reported not detecting signals from object C at 2280 MHz while detecting signals from Kosmos-2558 at 2284 MHz.
Kosmos-2558 passed within about 67 km of NRO satellite USA 326 at about 14:16 UTC on August 4, 2022 near 42.3 N, 25.9 W.
A Soyuz-2.1v launch vehicle lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on August 1, 2022 at 20:25 UTC carrying a 14F150 Nivelir satellite later designated Kosmos-2558.
Celestrak graphs and other tracking sources indicated Kosmos-2558 stopped making regular orbit-maintenance maneuvers around mid-April 2025 and its orbit began to decay.
By July 2025 Object C had raised its orbit back to an altitude slightly higher than Kosmos-2558, with Kosmos-2558 reported at about 449 x 453 km.
Tracking data show Kosmos-2558 regularly performed small maneuvers to maintain its orbital plane close to that of USA 326 during 2022 and 2023.
Russian Aerospace Forces deorbited and deliberately flooded the Volga upper stage in the Pacific Ocean after the Kosmos-2558 launch.
US tracking data reported Kosmos-2558 in a sun-synchronous orbit of approximately 435 x 452 km with a 97.3° inclination.
Kosmos-2558 conducted a small orbit-raising maneuver on September 29, 2022 near 12:00 UTC to fine-tune RAAN precession relative to USA 326.
Kosmos-2558 was confirmed to resemble the Karat-200 platform developed by NPO Lavochkin.