Russian Observation satellite Kosmos-2495: Fireball observed over US

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied media reports of a Russian military satellite that allegedly exploded above the United States.

Earlier in the day, the American Meteor Society (AMS) published more than 30 reports from alleged eyewitnesses, who claimed they observed a blast of Russia's Kosmos-2495 imaging reconnaissance satellite.



"The Russian satellite group functions normally and is being constantly monitored by the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces," ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

A map showing the confirmed observations from eyewitnesses. 

Reported observations of the Fireball from New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana (Final viewing directions are shown in red)

Image: Google Earth /Spaceflight101 /AMS

Kosmos-2495 was launched on May 6, 2014.

It was also known as Kobalt-M reconnaissance satellite, an operational member of the Yantar series of Russian satellites.

It weighed 6.6 tonnes, operated on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and was equipped with a film camera.