Kosmos 1278 (russian: Космос 1278 meaning ''Cosmos 1278'') 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 1981 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 1278 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 19:37 UTC on 19 June 1981. 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 ...

1981-058A. 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 ...

12547. Kosmos 1278 was a US-K satellite like Kosmos 862 that self-destructed in orbit, NASA believes deliberately. It had been inactive since early 1984 and broke apart in early-December 1984. The main component may have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 2 September 2000. Debris from this satellite can not be tracked.

References

Kosmos satellites Oko Spacecraft launched by Molniya-M rockets Spacecraft launched in 1981 Spacecraft that broke apart in space Spacecraft which reentered in 2000 {{USSR-spacecraft-stub

See also

References