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Mission type | ABM radar target |
---|---|
COSPAR ID | 1976-084A |
SATCAT no. | 09387 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | DS-P1-Yu |
Manufacturer | Yuzhnoye |
Launch mass | 400 kilograms (880 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 26 August 1976, 11:00 | UTC
Rocket | Kosmos-2I 63SM |
Launch site | Plesetsk 133/1 |
End of mission | |
Decay date | 16 May 1977 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee altitude | 267 kilometres (166 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 479 kilometres (298 mi) |
Inclination | 70.9 degrees |
Period | 92 minutes |
Kosmos 850 (Russian: Космос 850 meaning Cosmos 850), also known as DS-P1-Yu No.79, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1976 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 400-kilogram (880 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.[1]
A Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 850 from Site 133/1 of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.[2] The launch occurred at 11:00 UTC on 26 August 1976, and resulted in the successfully insertion of the satellite into low Earth orbit.[3] Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1976-084A.[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 09387.
Kosmos 850 was the last of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,[1] of which seventy two successfully achieved orbit.[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 267 kilometres (166 mi), an apogee of 479 kilometres (298 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 92 minutes.[6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 16 May 1977.[6]