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Kosmos 967
Mission type	ASAT target
COSPAR ID	1977-116A
SATCAT no.	10512
Mission duration	47 years and 20 days (in orbit)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Lira
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	650 kilograms (1,430 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	13 December 1977, 15:53 UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-3M
Launch site	Plesetsk 132/1
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	961 kilometres (597 mi)
Apogee altitude	1,003 kilometres (623 mi)
Inclination	65.8 degrees
Period	104.7 minutes

Kosmos 967 (Russian: Космос 967 meaning Cosmos 967) is 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 970 and Kosmos 1009, 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 15:53 UTC on 13 December 1977.^[4]

Kosmos 967 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 961 kilometres (597 mi), an apogee of 1,003 kilometres (623 mi), 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 104.7 minutes.^[1] It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 970 in a non-destructive test on 21 December 1977. It was then re-used by Kosmos 1009 on 19 May 1978. Both tests were successful, and both left Kosmos 967 intact. As of 2023, it is still in orbit.^[2]^[5]

Kosmos 967 was the seventh 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.