Kosmos 839

Kosmos 839

Mission type	ASAT target
COSPAR ID	1976-067A
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Lira
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	650 kilograms (1,430 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	8 July 1976, 21:08 (1976-07-08UTC21:08Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-3M
Launch site	Plesetsk 132/1
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	915 kilometres (569 mi)
Apogee	2,053 kilometres (1,276 mi)
Inclination	65.9 degrees
Period	115.6 minutes

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, and used as a target for Kosmos 843 as part of the Istrebitel Sputnik programme.

It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket, from Site 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 21:08 UTC on 8 July 1976.

Kosmos 839 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 915 kilometres (569 mi), an apogee of 2,053 kilometres (1,276 mi), 65.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 115.6 minutes. It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 843 on 21 July. As of 2009, debris is still in orbit.

Kosmos 839 was the third of ten Lira satellites to be launched, of which all but the first were successful. Lira was derived from the earlier DS-P1-M satellite, which it replaced.

See also

• 1976 in spaceflight