Engineering:Kosmos 601

From HandWiki
Kosmos 601
Mission typeABM radar target
COSPAR ID1973-075A
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeDS-P1-Yu
ManufacturerYuzhnoye
Launch mass400 kilograms (880 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date16 October 1973, 14:00:01 (1973-10-16UTC14:00:01Z) UTC
RocketKosmos-2I 63SM
Launch sitePlesetsk 133/1
End of mission
Decay date15 August 1974 (1974-08-16)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude197 kilometres (122 mi)
Apogee altitude1,404 kilometres (872 mi)
Inclination81.8 degrees
Period100.9 minutes
 

Kosmos 601 (Russian: Космос 601 meaning Cosmos 601), known before launch as DS-P1-Yu No.60, 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]

Launch

Kosmos 601 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit at 14:00:01 UTC on 16 October 1973.[2] The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,[3] and used a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket.

Orbit

Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1973-075A.[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 06875.

Kosmos 601 was the sixty-fifth of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,[1] and the fifty-ninth of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 197 kilometres (122 mi), an apogee of 1,404 kilometres (872 mi), 81.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 100.9 minutes.[6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 15 August 1974.[6]

See also

  • 1973 in spaceflight

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Wade, Mark. "DS-P1-Yu". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dsp1yu.htm. 
  2. Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/kosmos2.htm. 
  3. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt. 
  4. "Cosmos 601". NSSDC Master Catalog. US National Space Science Data Center. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1973-075A. 
  5. Krebs, Gunter. "DS-P1-Yu (11F618)". Gunter's Space Page. http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/ds-p1-yu.htm. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt.