Kosmos 521

Kosmos 521
Mission type ASAT target
COSPAR ID 1972-074A
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type DS-P1-M
Manufacturer Yuzhnoye
Launch mass 650 kilograms (1,430 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date 29 September 1972, 20:18:59 (1972-09-29UTC20:18:59Z) UTC
Rocket Kosmos-3M
Launch site Plesetsk 132/2
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 987 kilometres (613 mi)
Apogee 992 kilometres (616 mi)
Inclination 65.8 degrees
Period 104.9 minutes

Kosmos 521 (Russian: Космос 521 meaning Cosmos 521), also known as DS-P1-M No.4 is a satellite which was intended for use as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1972 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme,[1] and was to have been used as a target for an IS-A interceptor, as part of the Istrebitel Sputnik programme. A malfunction aboard the satellite rendered it useless, and the interceptor was not launched.[2]

It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket,[3] from Site 132/2 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 20:18:59 UTC on 29 September 1972.[4]

Kosmos 521 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 987 kilometres (613 mi), an apogee of 992 kilometres (616 mi), 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 104.9 minutes.[1] No attempt to intercept the satellite was made after its onboard telemetry system malfunctioned. As of 2009, it is still in orbit.[2][5] Western analysts did not identify Kosmos 521 as being associated with the Soviet ASAT programme until records were declassified.

Kosmos 521 was the last of the five original DS-P1-M satellites to be launched,[1] of which all but the first were successfully reached orbit. Despite its successful launch, the satellite malfunctioned shortly after reaching orbit, and was unusable. Subsequent launches used a modified version of the DS-P1-M, known as Lira.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wade, Mark. "DS-P1-I". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  2. 1 2 Wade, Mark. "IS-A". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  3. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  4. ↑ Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 3". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  5. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  6. ↑ Wade, Mark. "DS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 29 May 2009.


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