| Kosmos 839 | |
| Mission Type: | ASAT target |
| Cospar Id: | 1976-067A |
| Spacecraft Type: | Lira |
| Manufacturer: | Yuzhnoye |
| Launch Date: | UTC |
| Launch Rocket: | Kosmos-3M |
| Launch Site: | Plesetsk 132/1 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth |
| Orbit Inclination: | 65.9 degrees |
| Orbit Period: | 115.6 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
Kosmos 839 (Russian: Космос 839 meaning Cosmos 839) was a satellite which was used as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1976 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme,[1] and used as a target for Kosmos 843 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 21:08 UTC on 8 July 1976.[4]
Kosmos 839 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of, an apogee of, 65.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 115.6 minutes.[1] It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 843 on 21 July. As of 2009, debris is still in orbit.[2] [5]
Kosmos 839 was the third of ten Lira satellites to be launched,[1] of which all but the first were successful. Lira was derived from the earlier DS-P1-M satellite, which it replaced.