| Operator | VKS |
|---|---|
| Major contractors | Reshetnev |
| Bus | Strela-2M |
| Mission type | Communication |
| Satellite of | Earth |
| Launch date | 16 June 1993 |
| Carrier rocket | Kosmos-3M |
| Launch site | Plesetsk Site 132/1 |
| COSPAR ID | 1993-036A |
| Mass | 900 kg |
| Orbital elements | |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Inclination | 74.00 degrees |
| Apoapsis | 803 km |
| Periapsis | 778 km |
| Orbital period | 100.70 minutes |
Kosmos-2251, (Russian: Космос-2251 meaning Cosmos 2251), was a Russian Strela-2M communications satellite. It was launched into Low Earth orbit from Site 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 04:17 GMT on 16 June 1993, by a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket.[1][2]
At 16:56 GMT on 10 February 2009,[3] it collided with Iridium 33, an Iridium satellite,[4] in the first major collision of two satellites in Earth orbit. The Iridium satellite, which was operational at the time of the collision, was destroyed, as was Kosmos-2251. The Kosmos satellite was launched in 1993. [5] NASA reported that a large amount of debris was produced by the collision.[6][7]