Kosmos 553

Kosmos 553

Mission type	ABM radar target
COSPAR ID	1973-020A
SATCAT no.	06427
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	DS-P1-Yu
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	400 kilograms (880 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	12 April 1973, 11:49:55 (1973-04-12UTC11:49:55Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-2I 63SM
Launch site	Plesetsk 133/1
End of mission
Decay date	11 November 1973 (1973-11-12)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	264 kilometres (164 mi)
Apogee altitude	470 kilometres (290 mi)
Inclination	70.9 degrees
Period	91.9 minutes

Kosmos 553 (Russian: Космос 553 meaning Cosmos 553), known before launch as DS-P1-Yu No.55, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1973 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 400-kilogram (880 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.^[1]

Launch

Kosmos 553 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit at 11:49:55 UTC on 12 April 1973.^[2] The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,^[3] and used a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket.

Orbit

Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1973-020A.^[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 06427.

Kosmos 553 was the sixty-first of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,^[1] and the fifty-fifth of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.^[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 264 kilometres (164 mi), an apogee of 470 kilometres (290 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.9 minutes.^[6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 11 November 1973.^[6]

See also

• 1973 in spaceflight

References