It is a satellite of the Parouss constellation. These are military positioning satellites, used to give the position of Soviet and Russian submarines and ships. They have an accuracy of 100 meters, and are still operational today.

UNAMSAT (University of Mexico (UNAM) Satellite) is a 17 kg spacecraft built in Mexico at UNAM, a Mexican University.

The satellite bus is the AMSAT-NA Microsat 25 cm cube. It operates in the amateur service and carries 0.2-0.3 W UHF downlinks at 437.206 and 437.138 MHz, and uplinks at 145.815, 145.835, 145.855 and 145.875 MHz with 1200 bps AFSK modulation using the PACSAT data protocol as used by PACSAT (OSCAR 16) and LUSAT (OSCAR 19).

The primary payload is a 40.997 MHz pulse radar associated with a wide band receiver to study micro-meteorids and the ionised trails left by these as they enter the atmosphere. It also carries a communications data relay for environmental sensors in remote locations.