Kosmos 880

Kosmos 880 (Russian: Космос 880 meaning Cosmos 880) 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,^[1] and used as a target for Kosmos 886, as part of the Istrebitel Sputnikov programme.^[2]

Kosmos 880

Mission type	ASAT target
COSPAR ID	1976-120A
SATCAT no.	09601
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Lira
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	650 kilograms (1,430 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	9 December 1976, 20:00 (1976-12-09UTC20Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-3M
Launch site	Plesetsk 132/2
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	558 kilometres (347 mi)
Apogee altitude	614 kilometres (382 mi)
Inclination	65.8 degrees
Period	96.3 minutes

It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket,^[3] from Site 132/2 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 20:00 UTC on 9 December 1976.^[4]

Kosmos 880 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 558 kilometres (347 mi), an apogee of 614 kilometres (382 mi), 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 96.3 minutes.^[1] It was successfully intercepted and destroyed by Kosmos 886 on 27 December 1976.^[2] The last catalogued piece of debris decayed from orbit on 9 December 2001 (although pieces of debris of Kosmos 886, the intercepting device, remain in orbit as of 2023).^[5]

Kosmos 880 was the fourth 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.

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• 1976 in spaceflight