Kosmos 558

Mission type	ABM radar target
COSPAR ID	1973-029A
SATCAT no.	06645
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	DS-P1-Yu
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
Launch mass	400 kilograms (880 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	17 May 1973, 13:19:58 (1973-05-17UTC13:19:58Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-2I 63SM
Launch site	Plesetsk 133/1
End of mission
Decay date	22 December 1973 (1973-12-23)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	264 kilometres (164 mi)
Apogee altitude	477 kilometres (296 mi)
Inclination	70.9 degrees
Period	92 minutes

Kosmos 558 (Russian: Космос 558 meaning Cosmos 558), known before launch as DS-P1-Yu No.65, was a Soviet satellite, which was launched in 1973 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]

Launch

Kosmos 558 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit at 13:19:58 UTC on 17 May 1973.^[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, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation and received the International Designator 1973-029A.^[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 06645.

Kosmos 558 was the sixty-second of seventy-nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched,^[1] and the fifty-sixth of seventy-two to successfully reach orbit.^[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 264 kilometres (164 mi), an apogee of 477 kilometres (296 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 22 December 1973.^[6]

See also

• 1973 in spaceflight

References

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