Kosmos 931 (russian: Космос 931 meaning ''Cosmos 931'') was a Soviet

US-K Upravlyaemy Sputnik Kontinentalny (russian: Управляемый Спутник Континентальный meaning ''Continental Controllable Satellite'') or US-K (russian: УС-К) is a series of Russian, previously Soviet, satellites used t ...

missile

early warning satellite An early warning satellite is a satellite designed to rapidly detect ballistic missile launches and thus enable defensive military action. To do this, these satellites use infrared detectors that identify the missile thanks to the heat given off ...

which was launched in 1977 as part of the Soviet military's

Oko OKO ( rus, ОКО, r=, literally means eye, also an abbreviation for Ob'yedinonnyye Kristallom Osnovaniya ( rus, Oбъединённые Кристаллом Oснования, r=, literally means Foundations Bound by a Crystal)) is a complex o ...

programme. The satellite was designed to identify missile launches using

optical telescope An optical telescope is a telescope that gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct visual inspection, to make a photograph, or to collect data through elect ...

s and

infrared sensor Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

s. Kosmos 931 was launched from Site 43/3 at

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 ...

in the Russian SSR. A

Molniya-M The Molniya-M (russian: Молния, meaning "lightning"), designation 8K78M, was a Soviet Union (later Russian) launch vehicle derived from the R-7 Semyorka Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The original 8K78 booster had been the ...

carrier rocket with a 2BL upper stage was used to perform the launch, which took place at 04:44 UTC on 20 July 1977. The launch successfully placed the satellite into a

molniya orbit A Molniya orbit ( rus, Молния, p=ˈmolnʲɪjə, a=Ru-молния.ogg, "Lightning") is a type of satellite orbit designed to provide communications and remote sensing coverage over high latitudes. It is a highly elliptical orbit with an ...

. It subsequently received its Kosmos designation, and the

international designator The International Designator, also known as COSPAR ID, is an international identifier assigned to artificial objects in space. It consists of the launch year, a three-digit incrementing launch number of that year and up to a three-letter code repr ...

1977-068A. The

United States Space Command United States Space Command (USSPACECOM or SPACECOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers (62 miles) and grea ...

assigned it the

Satellite Catalog Number The Satellite Catalog Number (SATCAT, also known as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) Catalog Number, NORAD ID, USSPACECOM object number or simply catalog number, among similar variants) is a sequential nine-digit number assigned by the Un ...

10150. It self-destructed on 24 October 1977 and never reached the correct orbit.

References

Kosmos satellites 1977 in spaceflight Oko Spacecraft launched by Molniya-M rockets Spacecraft launched in 1977 Spacecraft that broke apart in space {{USSR-spacecraft-stub

See also

References