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Code Name: Lira. Class: Military. Type: ASAT Target. Nation: USSR. Manufacturer: KBYu. Target for development of ASAT systems. A lighter target that could be launched by the smaller Kosmos rocket replaced the first R-36 launched IS-P target. Developed by KB Yuzhnoye (KB-3 Section; Chief Designer V M Kovtunenko). Although it acted as a target for the IS anti-satellite system, it was designed for both anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite testing. It was more than a passive target, including an impact registration system and elements of the hit (direction, velocity, etc.). First flight trials were in August 1970. It was in service from 1973 to 1983, at which time the Soviet Union unilaterally abandoned anti-satellite operations.
SpecificationTotal Mass: 600 kg.
DS-P1-M Chronology
22 December 1970
DS-P1-M s/n 1 Program: ASAT. Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65M. FAILURE: First stage failed 1 second after launch. Mass: 600 kg. ASAT target. First test of Yangel-desinged target failed to reach orbit.
09 February 1971
Cosmos 394 Program: ASAT. Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65M. Mass: 650 kg. Perigee: 522 km. Apogee: 552 km. Inclination: 65.8 deg. ASAT target. First test using Yangel-designed lighter, cheaper target launched by Kosmos 11K65M booster from Plesetsk.
19 March 1971
Cosmos 400 Program: ASAT. Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65M. Mass: 650 kg. Perigee: 983 km. Apogee: 998 km. Inclination: 65.8 deg. ASAT target for Cosmos 404 interceptor.
30 November 1971
Cosmos 459 Program: ASAT. Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65M. Mass: 650 kg. Perigee: 199 km. Apogee: 286 km. Inclination: 65.0 deg. ASAT target for Cosmos 462 interceptor.
29 September 1972
Cosmos 521 Program: ASAT. Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65M. Mass: 750 kg. Perigee: 987 km. Apogee: 992 km. Inclination: 65.8 deg. ASAT target launched to test modifications to ASAT interceptor. Interceptor launch cancelled due to technical failure in target telemetry system. Signature of SALT treaty in May 1972 resulted in military being ordered to discontinue further ASAT tests.
Bibliography:- 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
- 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
- 99 - Agapov, V, Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "K zapusku pervovo ISZ serii 'DS'", 1997, Issue 6.
- 272 - Zheleznyakov, Aleksandr, Istoriya Rossiyskoi Sovetskoi Kosmonavtiki, "Istrebitel Sputnikov", Aleksandr Krasnikov Web Page, 1998. HTML when accessed: http://www.aha.ru/~kai/spaceflt/projects/istr.html
- 445 - Melnik, T G, Voenno-Kosmicheskiy Siliy, Nauka, Moscow, 1997..
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Last update 12 March 2001.
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