| Kosmos 400 | |
| Mission Type: | ASAT target |
| Cospar Id: | 1971-020A |
| Spacecraft Type: | DS-P1-M |
| Manufacturer: | Yuzhnoye |
| Launch Date: | UTC |
| Launch Rocket: | Kosmos-3M |
| Launch Site: | Plesetsk 132/1 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth |
| Orbit Inclination: | 65.8 degrees |
| Orbit Period: | 105 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
Kosmos 400 (Russian: Космос 400 meaning Cosmos 400), also known as DS-P1-M No.3 was a satellite which was used as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1971 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme,[1] and used as a target for Kosmos 404, as part of the Istrebitel Sputnikov programme.[2]
It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket,[3] from Site 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 21:45:00 UTC on 18 March 1971.[4]
Kosmos 400 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of, an apogee of, 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 105 minutes.[1] It was successfully intercepted and destroyed by Kosmos 404 on 4 April.[2] As of 2009, debris is still in orbit.[5]
Kosmos 400 was the third of the five original DS-P1-M satellites to be launched,[1] of which all but the first were successful. Following the five initial launches the DS-P1-M satellite was replaced with a derivative, Lira.[6]