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Kosmos 959
Mission type	ASAT target
COSPAR ID	1977-101A
SATCAT no.	10419
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Lira
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	650 kilograms (1,430 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	21 October 1977, 10:05 UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-3M
Launch site	Plesetsk 132/1
End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	30 November 1977
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	146 kilometres (91 mi)
Apogee altitude	850 kilometres (530 mi)
Inclination	65.8 degrees
Period	94.6 minutes

Kosmos 959 (Russian: Космос 959 meaning Cosmos 959) was a satellite which was used as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1977 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme,^[1] and used as a target for Kosmos 961, as part of the Istrebitel Sputnikov programme.^[2]

It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket,^[3] from Site 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 10:05 UTC on 21 October 1977.^[4]

Kosmos 959 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 146 kilometres (91 mi), an apogee of 850 kilometres (530 mi), 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 94.6 minutes.^[1] It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 961, as part of a non-destructive test. Following this, it decayed from orbit on 30 November 1977.^[2]^[5]

Kosmos 959 was the sixth of ten Lira satellites to be launched,^[1] of which all but the first were successful. Lira was derived from the earlier DS-P1-M satellite, which it replaced.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Wade, Mark. "DS-P1-M". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
^ ^a ^b Wade, Mark. "IS-A". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
^ Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 3 June 2009.