The satellite is designed to identify missile launches using optical telescopes and infrared sensors.

[2] It was estimated in the west that it stopped functioning in March 1998,[5] and reentered destructively on December 31, 2012.

[6] (the early morning of January 1, 2013 in some time zones) Kosmos 2261 was launched from Site 16/2 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.

[7] A Molniya-M carrier rocket with a 2BL upper stage was used to perform the launch, which took place at 14:53 UTC on 10 August 1993.

[3] The United States Space Command assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 22741.