Kosmos 1402 (russian: Космос 1402) was a Soviet

spy satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The ...

that malfunctioned, resulting in the uncontrolled re-entry of its nuclear reactor and its radioactive uranium fuel. Kosmos 1402 was launched on August 30, 1982, and re-entered the atmosphere on 23 January 1983. The fission reactor entered a few days later; on 7 February 1983. Kosmos 1402 was a RORSAT surveillance satellite that used

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

for monitoring

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

vessels. The power source for the satellite was a BES-5 nuclear fission reactor, which used about of

enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...

as a fuel source. The satellite operated in

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 m ...

, and the reactor was designed to eject to a higher parking orbit at the end of the satellite's mission, or in the event of a mishap. This ejection mechanism was implemented in the RORSAT satellites after a nuclear accident caused by a previous malfunction of

Kosmos 954 Kosmos 954 (russian: Космос 954) was a reconnaissance satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1977. A malfunction prevented safe separation of its onboard nuclear reactor; when the satellite reentered the Earth's atmosphere the follow ...

, five years earlier over Canada's

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. In response to the Kosmos 954 mishap, RORSAT satellites were modified with an ejection system for their nuclear reactors. This ejections system would allow the reactor section to be ejected in the event of a malfunction, or at the end of the satellite's service life, so the radioactive core could be placed in a disposal orbit (about ), where the fuel would remain for 500 years.

Accident

On 28 December 1982, the ejection system in Kosmos 1402 failed to adequately jettison the reactor to a higher orbit, and the satellite split into three parts and began to tumble out of control. The three main sub-components were the reactor with its booster engine, the instrument section of the satellite with the expended second stage of the launch vehicle, and the radar antenna. If the uranium core were to explode or shatter in the atmosphere, and radioactive fragments fell near a populated area, the resulting nuclear contamination could have caused a significant and widespread hazard. Because of this concern, the soviet engineers had re-designed the reactor to completely burn up in the atmosphere, so that nothing would reach the ground. But this information was not verified by other countries at the time. The uncertainty of the reentry location and time, coupled with concerns of

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...

, triggered many countries to place emergency response teams on high alert. Military aircraft, ships, and personnel were mobilized in anticipation. Countries with response plans included United States, Canada, Belgium, Australia, Oman, UAE, West Germany, France and Sweden. The antenna section was the first part of the satellite to re-enter, it burned up in the atmosphere on December 30, 1982. The main satellite bus of Kosmos 1402 reentered the Earth's atmosphere on January 23, 1983, south of

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...

in the Indian Ocean (). No debris was recovered, but it is believed that the satellite disintegrated then crashed into the sea. The satellite was visible over the United Kingdom, for about a minute, on the night before impact. The reactor section and core continued to orbit for another two weeks, it re-entered on February 7, 1983, over the

South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, near

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of ...

(). The reactor is believed to have completely burned up into particles and dispersed to safe levels of atmospheric radioactivity.

Aftermath

Subsequent RORSATs were equipped with a backup (secondary) core ejection mechanism – when the primary ejection mechanism failed on Kosmos 1900 in 1988 this system succeeded in raising the core to a safe disposal orbit. After this accident, launches of new US-A series satellites were stopped for a year and a half. Radioactive

strontium Strontium is the chemical element with the symbol Sr and atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white yellowish metallic element that is highly chemically reactive. The metal forms a dark oxide layer when it is e ...

was detected in rain samples from

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington unt ...

in the months following the incident. The radioactive material originated in the Kosmos 1402 core. Another investigation determined that of uranium had been dispersed into the

stratosphere The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air h ...

after the incident. The incident triggered widespread discussion about nuclear technology in space, including topics related to space law, insurance and liability, militarization, nuclear safety, and security.

References

External links

Cosmos 1402 Is Out of Control
{{Nukesats Satellites formerly orbiting Earth Kosmos 1402 Reconnaissance satellites of the Soviet Union 1982 in the Soviet Union 1983 in the Soviet Union Nuclear power in space Spacecraft launched in 1982 Nuclear power in the Soviet Union

Accident

Aftermath

See also

References

External links