Kosmos 725

Kosmos 725
Mission type ABM radar target
COSPAR ID 1975-026A
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type DS-P1-Yu
Manufacturer Yuzhnoye
Launch mass 400 kilograms (880 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date 8 April 1975, 18:29:56 UTC
Rocket Kosmos-2I 63SM
Launch site Plesetsk 133/1
End of mission
Decay date 6 January 1976
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 267 kilometres (166 mi)
Apogee 466 kilometres (290 mi)
Inclination 70.9 degrees
Period 91.9 minutes

Kosmos 725 (Russian: Космос 725 meaning Cosmos 725), also known as DS-P1-Yu No.77, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1975 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 725 from Site 133/1 of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.[2] The launch occurred at 18:29:56 UTC on 8 April 1975, 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 1975-026A.[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 07730.

Kosmos 725 was the seventy-sixth of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,[1] and the sixty-ninth of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 267 kilometres (166 mi), an apogee of 466 kilometres (290 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.9 minutes.[6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 6 January 1976.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Wade, Mark. "DS-P1-Yu". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  2. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  3. Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  4. "Cosmos 725". NSSDC Master Catalog. US National Space Science Data Center. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  5. Krebs, Gunter. "DS-P1-Yu (11F618)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  6. 6.0 6.1 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2 September 2009.