| Major contractors | Yuzhnoye |
|---|---|
| Bus | DS-P1-Yu |
| Mission type | ABM radar target |
| Launch date | 17 November 1971 11:09:48 GMT |
| Carrier rocket | Kosmos-2I 63SM |
| Launch site | Plesetsk Site 133/1 |
| Orbital decay | 9 April 1972 |
| COSPAR ID | 1971-097A |
| Mass | 325 kilograms (720 lb) |
| Orbital elements | |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Inclination | 70.9° |
| Apoapsis | 468 kilometres (291 mi) |
| Periapsis | 266 kilometres (165 mi) |
| Orbital period | 91.9 minutes |
Kosmos 455 (Russian: Космос 455 meaning Cosmos 455), known before launch as DS-P1-Yu #54, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1971 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 325-kilogram (720 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.[1]
Kosmos 455 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit on 17 November 1971, with the rocket lifting off at at 11:09:48 GMT.[2] The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,[3] and used a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket. Upon reaching orbit, it was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1971-097A.[4]
Kosmos 455 was the forty-seventh of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,[1] and the forty-second of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 266 kilometres (165 mi), an apogee of 468 kilometres (291 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.9 minutes.[1][6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 9 April 1972.[6]