1977-037A
Kosmos-910 was launched into a low 149 x 507 km orbit; the rocket and one debris piece decayed from this orbit. The payload maneuvered to a high apogee path in an attempt to intercept Kosmos-909 in its 993 x 2104 km x 65.9 deg orbit. Johnson (Sov Mil Strat, p 140?) reported that an attempted first-rev intercept at 1710 km failed when the vehicle reached the target point at the wrong time.
The target satellite was at that altitude at 1312 UTC, 1402 UTC and 1509 UTC.
It we model an IS burn at 1252 UTC (first apogee and southbound equator crossing) to 465 x 1774 km, we get a reasonable match with a 230 km miss distance at 1402 UTC as the ground track heads northwards towards Baikonur again; this is a plausible model.
The satellite was deorbited soon afterwards; It's possible that the burn occurred on the next pass around 1554-1605 UTC leading to a reentry just east of Australia around 1630 UTC. However, a burn immediately after the failed intercept, at around 1410 UTC, would lead to entry about 1450 UTC in the more usual disposal zone well to the east of New Zealand.
| Kosmos-910 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 May 23 | 1214:51 | Launch by 11K69 | KB |
| 1217 | Stage 2 burn | ||
| 1220 | Stage 2 sep | ||
| 1977 May 23 | 90.6 141x465x65.1 | ||
| 1977 May 23 | 465x1775x65.9? (NLJ) | ||
| 1977 May 23 | 1402? | Failed to intercept K909 | |
| 1415? | Deorbit | 60? x 1400? x 66 | |
| 1977 May 23 | 1450? | reentered | |
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