K-496 Borisoglebsk is a Russian advanced Delta III

Delta class submarine

The Delta class is a class of submarines which formed the backbone of the Soviet and Russian strategic submarine fleet since its introduction in 1973...

 SSBN nuclear submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

. On 21 June 2005 the vessel served as the launch platform for a missile carrying a payload containing a solar sail

Solar sail

Solar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....

 experiment, Cosmos 1

Cosmos 1

Cosmos 1 was a project by Cosmos Studios and The Planetary Society to test a solar sail in space. As part of the project, an unmanned solar sail spacecraft christened Cosmos 1 was launched into space at 15:46:09 EDT on June 21, 2005 from the submarine Borisoglebsk in the Barents Sea...

. The submarine was based in the Russian Northern Fleet. In early December 2008 the Borisoglebsk was decommissioned from the fleet and was getting ready to be scrapped.

Sources

• Russian Media Monitoring Agency – http://www.wps.ru/en/products/pp/kursk/2000/09/12/01.html
• GlobalSecurity.org – http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/667BDR.htm