Engineering:Kosmos 1456

From HandWiki
Kosmos 1456
Mission typeEarly warning
COSPAR ID1983-038A
SATCAT no.14034
Mission duration4 years [1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeUS-K[2]
Launch mass1,900 kilograms (4,200 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date25 April 1983, 19:34 (1983-04-25UTC19:34Z) UTC
RocketMolniya-M/2BL[2]
Launch sitePlesetsk Cosmodrome[2][3]
End of mission
Deactivated3 August 1983[1]
Decay date11 May 1998 (1998-05-12)[4]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeMolniya [2]
Perigee altitude651 kilometres (405 mi)[4]
Apogee altitude39,710 kilometres (24,670 mi)[4]
Inclination63.0 degrees[4]
Period717.92 minutes[4]
 

Kosmos 1456 (Russian: Космос 1456 meaning Cosmos 1456) was a Soviet US-K missile early warning satellite which was launched in 1983 as part of the Soviet military's Oko programme. The satellite was designed to identify missile launches using optical telescopes and infrared sensors.[2]

Kosmos 1456 was launched from Site 16/2 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Russian SSR.[3] A Molniya-M carrier rocket with a 2BL upper stage was used to perform the launch, which took place at 19:34 UTC on 25 April 1983.[3] The launch successfully placed the satellite into a molniya orbit. It subsequently received its Kosmos designation, and the international designator 1983-038A.[4] The United States Space Command assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 14034.[4]

Kosmos 1456 was a US-K satellite like Kosmos 862 that self-destructed in orbit, NASA believes deliberately. The spacecraft may have been active when it self-destructed on 13 August 1983, having last made a station-keeping maneuver on 22 June 1983. The next station-keeping maneuver was expected in the second half of August or early September 1983. The spacecraft began drifting off station immediately after the event and never recovered..[5] All of its traceable debris re-entered the Earth's atmosphere by 11 May 1998.[4]

See also

References