Kosmos 1241 (russian: Космос 1241 meaning ''Cosmos 1241'') was a target

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

which was used by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in the 1980s for tests of

anti-satellite weapon Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic or tactical purposes. Several nations possess operational ASAT systems. Although no ASAT system has been utilised in warfare, a few ...

s as part of the

Istrebitel Sputnikov Istrebitel Sputnikov, or IS (russian: Истребитель спутников, ИС, meaning "destroyer of satellites"Not to be confounded with "sputnik-istrebitel" ("спутник-истребитель"), "fighter satellite".), was a Soviet ...

programme. It was launched in 1981, and was itself part of the

Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik (russian: Днепропетровский Спутник; ua, Дніпропетровський супутник), also known as DS, was a series of satellites launched by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1982. DS satel ...

programme. It was a target for Kosmos 1243 and Kosmos 1258. It was launched at 08:29 UTC on 21 January 1981, using a

Kosmos-3M The Kosmos-3M (russian: Космос-3М meaning "''Cosmos''", GRAU index 11K65M) was a Russian space launch vehicle, member of the Kosmos rocket family. It was a liquid-fueled two-stage launch vehicle, first launched in 1967 and with over 42 ...

carrier rocket, flying from Site 132/1 at the

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 Northwest

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Kosmos 1241 was placed into a

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

with a

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ell ...

of , an

apogee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion. General description There are two apsides in any ell ...

of , 65.8 degrees of

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

, and an

orbital period The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets ...

of 105 minutes. It was intercepted by Kosmos 1243 on 2 February. This was intended to have been a destructive test; however, the explosive charge aboard Kosmos 1243 failed to detonate. Kosmos 1258 attempted to intercept it on 14 March; however, it failed. As of 2009, Kosmos 1241 is still orbiting the Earth. Kosmos 1241 was the ninth of ten Lira satellites to be launched, of which all but the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

were successful. Lira was derived from the earlier DS-P1-M satellite, which it replaced. Kosmos 1241 was also the penultimate satellite to be launched as part of the DS programme, which concluded with

Kosmos 1375 Kosmos 1375 (russian: Космос 1375 meaning ''Cosmos 1375'') was a target satellite which was used by the Soviet Union in the 1980s for tests of anti-satellite weapons as part of the "anti-satellite weapon" Istrebitel Sputnikov program. It was ...

in June 1982.

References

Spacecraft launched in 1981 Kosmos satellites Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik program {{USSR-spacecraft-stub

See also

References