Medium Earth orbit
Kosmos 2478 was launched from Site 43/4 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. A Soyuz-2-1b carrier rocket with a Fregat upper stage was used to perform the launch which took place at 08:26 UTC on 28 November 2011. The launch successfully placed the satellite into Medium Earth orbit. It subsequently received its Kosmos designation, and the international designator 2011-071. The United States Space Command assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 37938.