Mission type ASAT target Spacecraft type Lira Reference system Geocentric Rocket Kosmos-3M | COSPAR ID 1977-036A Launch site Plesetsk 132/2 Launch date 19 May 1977 Manufacturer Yuzhnoye Design Office | |
Launch mass 650 kilograms (1,430 lb) People also search for Kosmos 959, Kosmos 967, Kosmos 901 | ||
Kosmos 909 (Russian: Космос 909 meaning Cosmos 909) 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, and used as a target for Kosmos 910 and Kosmos 918, as part of the Istrebitel Sputnik programme.
It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket, from Site 132/2 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 16:30 UTC on 19 May 1977.
Kosmos 909 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 985 kilometres (612 mi), an apogee of 2,111 kilometres (1,312 mi), 65.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 117 minutes. Attempted interceptions by Kosmos 910 and 918 on 23 May and 17 June respectively failed, and as of 2009 Kosmos 909 remains in orbit.
Kosmos 909 was the fifth 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.