Kosmos 421

Mission type	ABM radar target
COSPAR ID	1971-044A
SATCAT no.	05232
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	DS-P1-Yu
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	325 kilograms (717 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	19 May 1971, 10:20:00 (1971-05-19UTC10:20Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-2I 63SM
Launch site	Plesetsk 133/1
End of mission
Decay date	8 November 1971 (1971-11-09)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	266 kilometres (165 mi)
Apogee altitude	445 kilometres (277 mi)
Inclination	70.9 degrees
Period	91.65 minutes

Kosmos 421 (Russian: Космос 421 meaning Cosmos 421), known before launch as DS-P1-Yu No.48, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1971 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 325-kilogram (717 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.^[1]

Launch

Kosmos 421 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit on 19 May 1971, with the rocket lifting-off at 10:20:00 UTC.^[2] The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,^[3] and used a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket.

Orbit

Upon reaching orbit, it was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1971-044A.^[4]

Kosmos 421 was the forty-second of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,^[1] and the thirty-eighth of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.^[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 266 kilometres (165 mi), an apogee of 445 kilometres (277 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.65 minutes.^[1][6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 8 November 1971.^[6]

See also

• 1971 in spaceflight

References

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