| Kosmos 967 | |
| Mission Type: | ASAT target |
| Cospar Id: | 1977-116A |
| Mission Duration: | (in orbit) |
| 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: | 104.7 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
Kosmos 967 (Russian: Космос 967 meaning Cosmos 967) is 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 970 and Kosmos 1009, 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 15:53 UTC on 13 December 1977.[4]
Kosmos 967 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of, an apogee of, 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 104.7 minutes.[1] It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 970 in a non-destructive test on 21 December 1977. It was then re-used by Kosmos 1009 on 19 May 1978. Both tests were successful, and both left Kosmos 967 intact. As of 2023, it is still in orbit.[2] [5]
Kosmos 967 was the seventh 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.