Kosmos 668

Mission type	ABM radar target
COSPAR ID	1974-058A
SATCAT no.	07385
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	DS-P1-Yu
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	400 kilograms (880 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	25 July 1974, 12:00 (1974-07-25UTC12Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-2I 63SM
Launch site	Plesetsk 133/1
End of mission
Decay date	21 February 1975 (1975-02-22)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	266 kilometres (165 mi)
Apogee altitude	475 kilometres (295 mi)
Inclination	70.9 degrees
Period	92 minutes

Kosmos 668 (Russian: Космос 668 meaning Cosmos 668), also known as DS-P1-Yu No.74, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1974 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 400-kilogram (880 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.^[1]

The launch of Kosmos 668 took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,^[2] and used a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket. It occurred at 12:00 UTC on 25 July 1974, and resulted in the satellite successfully reaching low Earth orbit.^[3] Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1974-058A.^[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 07385.

Kosmos 668 was the seventy-first of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,^[1] and the sixty-fourth 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 475 kilometres (295 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 92 minutes.^[6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 21 February 1975.^[6]

See also

• 1974 in spaceflight

References

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