| Kosmos 959 | |
| Mission Type: | ASAT target |
| Cospar Id: | 1977-101A |
| 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: | 65.8 degrees |
| Orbit Period: | 94.6 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Disposal Type: | Deorbited |
Kosmos 959 (Russian: Космос 959 meaning Cosmos 959) was a satellite which was used as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1977 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme,[1] and used as a target for Kosmos 961, 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 10:05 UTC on 21 October 1977.[4]
Kosmos 959 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of, an apogee of, 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 94.6 minutes.[1] It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 961, as part of a non-destructive test. Following this, it decayed from orbit on 30 November 1977.[2] [5]
Kosmos 959 was the sixth 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.