COSPAR ID 1987-011A Mission duration ~ 5 to 6 months Launch date 1 February 1987 Inclination 65.01° | SATCAT no. 17369 Spacecraft type Plazma-A Inclination 65.01° Period 1.7 hours | |
Mission type Radar ocean surveillance Launch mass 1,500 kilograms (3,307 lb) Similar Kosmos 954, SNAP‑10A, Gorizont, GOES 7, Kvant‑1 | ||
Description
Kosmos 1818 was launched on February 1, 1987 on a Tsyklon-2 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was put into an orbit about 800 km (500 mi) above the Earth's surface at an inclination of 65° and a period of 100.6 minutes. Its NSSDC ID is 1987-011A, and its NORAD ID is 17369. The satellite had a mission life of about five to six months. The satellite was powered by a TOPAZ 1 nuclear reactor. This was cooled by liquid sodium-potassium, NaK, metal, it used a high-temperature moderator containing hydrogen and highly enriched uranium fuel. It produced electricity using a thermionic converter. It had a Plazma-2 SPT electric engine. Its mission was to search the oceans for naval and merchant vessels.
Contents
Unlike the earlier Soviet RORSAT satellites, Kosmos 1818 and its twin, Kosmos 1867, were launched into high orbits. This avoided mishaps, such as had occurred with Kosmos 954, which broke up over Canada in 1978, showering the Earth with radioactive debris.
In 1992, Kosmos 1818 had an approximate visual magnitude of 3.3.
Fragmentation
About July 4, 2008, either Kosmos 1818 was hit by an object or a coolant tube cracked due to thermal stresses by repeated solar heating. The US Space Surveillance Network reported that about thirty objects were formed. These have orbital periods ranging from 100.5 to 101.5 minutes. Some of the debris appears to be metallic spheres. These could have resulted from the NaK coolant.
Russian Space Forces chief of staff General Alexander Yakushin indicated that the debris was high above the orbit of the International Space Station and did not pose any threat of radioactive contamination to the Earth.