Kosmos 745

Kosmos 745 (Russian: Космос 745 meaning Cosmos 745), also known as DS-P1-Yu No.76, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1975 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]

Kosmos 745

Mission type	ABM radar target
COSPAR ID	1975-058A
SATCAT no.	07982
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	DS-P1-Yu
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	400 kilograms (880 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	24 June 1975, 12:05 (1975-06-24UTC12:05Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-2I 63SM
Launch site	Plesetsk 133/1
End of mission
Decay date	12 March 1976 (1976-03-13)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	260 kilometres (160 mi)
Apogee altitude	499 kilometres (310 mi)
Inclination	70.9 degrees
Period	92.1 minutes

A Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 745 from Site 133/1 of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.[2] The launch occurred at 12:05 UTC on 24 June 1975, and resulted in the successfully insertion of the satellite into low Earth orbit.[3] Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1975-058A.[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 07982.

Kosmos 745 was the seventy-seventh of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,[1] and the seventieth of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 260 kilometres (160 mi), an apogee of 499 kilometres (310 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 92.1 minutes.[6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 12 March 1976.[6]