It's a satellite of the Nadiezhda constellation. Nadezhda was a Soviet civilian satellite navigation system used by the Soviet Merchant Marine and Academy of Sciences, but also by the military, as part of the Tsikada constellation. They featured also a COSPAS search and rescue system.

The Nadezhda and Tsikada satellites were very similar to the Parus satellites and also used a NPO PM built pressurized cylindrical bus with gravity-gradient stabilization. The satellites transmitted Doppler-shifted VHF transmissions at around 150 MHz and 400 MHz of their position and orbital characteristics. They operated from a 1000 km orbit with 82.9° inclination. Satellites were placed in planes spaced 45° apart.

The development of Tsikada began in 1974 and the first satellite was launched in 1976. The system entered the operational phase in 1978.

Astrid-2 is Sweden's second scientific microsatellite developed by Swedish Space Corporation's Space Systems Division in Solna, Sweden. Astrid-2 was launched piggyback on a Kosmos-3M rocket from Plesetsk on 10 December 1998. On 24 July 1999 the contact with the satellite was lost during a passage. Several attempts to re-establish the contact have been made without any results. During the 7.5 months in orbit, Astrid-2 delivered a large quantity of data to the scientists.