Parus also Tsyklon-B or Tsiklon-B ( meaning Cyclone-B) and Tsikada-M ( meaning Cicada-M), GRAU index 11F627, is a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n, previously Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 satellite constellation used for communication

Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...

 and navigation. As of 2010, 99 Parus satellites have been launched, starting with Kosmos 700 in 1974. All launches have been conducted using Kosmos-3M carrier rockets, flying from sites 132

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 132

Site 132, also known as Chusovaya , is a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, used by Kosmos carrier rockets. It consists of a two launch pads, Site 133/1, which is active, and Site 133/2 which is not....

 and 133

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 133

Site 133, also known as Raduga , is a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. It is used by Rockot, and previously Kosmos carrier rockets. It consists of a single pad, originally designated 133/1, and later 133/3....

 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...

.

Parus satellites are produced by JSC Information Satellite Systems

JSC Information Satellite Systems

JSC Information Satellite Systems - Reshetnev Company is a Russian satellite manufacturing company. It is based in the closed city of Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai near the city of Krasnoyarsk. The company was formerly called NPO PM.- Overview :...

 (formerly NPO PM), based on the KAUR-1 satellite bus

Satellite bus

A satellite bus or spacecraft bus is the general model on which multiple-production satellite spacecraft are often based. The bus is the infrastructure of a spacecraft, usually providing locations for the payload .They are most commonly used for geosynchronous satellites, particularly...

. They have a mass of around 825 kilograms (1,818.8 lb), and a design life of 18-24 months. The satellites operate in low Earth orbit

Low Earth orbit

A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...

s, typically with a perigee

Apsis

An apsis , plural apsides , is the point of greatest or least distance of a body from one of the foci of its elliptical orbit. In modern celestial mechanics this focus is also the center of attraction, which is usually the center of mass of the system...

 of about 950 kilometres (590.3 mi), an apogee

Apsis

An apsis , plural apsides , is the point of greatest or least distance of a body from one of the foci of its elliptical orbit. In modern celestial mechanics this focus is also the center of attraction, which is usually the center of mass of the system...

 of 1005 kilometres (624.5 mi) and 82.9° inclination

Inclination

Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...

. They are operated by the Russian Space Forces, and are used primarily for navigation, store-dump communication, and to relay data from US-P satellites. Some of the navigation functions are believed to have been superseded by the GLONASS

GLONASS

GLONASS , acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces...

system.