Kosmos 291 (russian: Космос 291 meaning ''Cosmos 291''), was a

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 radioisotope ...

which was used as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in September 1969 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.

Launch

It was launched aboard a

Tsyklon The Tsyklon (Циклон, "Cyclone", also known as Tsiklon), GRAU index 11K67, was a Soviet-designed expendable launch system, primarily used to put Cosmos satellites into low Earth orbit. It is based on the R-36 intercontinental ballistic missi ...

carrier rocket, from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

. The launch occurred at 5:44:00 UTC on 6 September 1969. Shortly after launch, there was a booster failure which resulted in the loss of the spacecraft.

References

1969 in spaceflight 1969 in the Soviet Union Intentionally destroyed artificial satellites Kosmos satellites Spacecraft launched in 1969 {{USSR-spacecraft-stub

Launch

See also

References