Kosmos 611

Kosmos 611
Major contractors Yuzhnoye
Bus DS-P1-Yu
Mission type ABM radar target
Launch date 28 November 1973
09:29:58 GMT
Carrier rocket Kosmos-2I 63SM
Launch site Plesetsk Site 133/1
Orbital decay 19 June 1974
COSPAR ID 1973-094A
Mass 400 kilograms (880 lb)
Orbital elements
Regime Low Earth
Inclination 70.9°
Apoapsis 466 kilometres (290 mi)
Periapsis 264 kilometres (164 mi)
Orbital period 91.8 minutes

Kosmos 611 (Russian: Космос 611 meaning Cosmos 611), known before launch as DS-P1-Yu #64, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1973 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]

Kosmos 611 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit at 09:29:58 GMT on 28 November 1973.[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, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1973-094A.[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 06952.

Kosmos 611 was the sixty-seventh of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,[1] and the sixty-first of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 264 kilometres (164 mi), an apogee of 466 kilometres (290 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.8 minutes.[6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 19 June 1974.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wade, Mark. "DS-P1-Yu". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dsp1yu.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  2. ^ Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/kosmos2.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  3. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  4. ^ "Cosmos 611". NSSDC Master Catalog. US National Space Science Data Center. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1973-094A. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  5. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "DS-P1-Yu (11F618)". Gunter's Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/ds-p1-yu.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  6. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt. Retrieved 2009-09-01.