Kosmos 324 was a Soviet artificial satellite that was placed into low‑Earth orbit as part of the USSR’s “Kosmos” series of spacecraft. According to publicly available satellite catalogs, the satellite was launched in 1970 aboard a Kosmos‑2I 63SM launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It was one of a group of DS‑P1‑M‑type satellites that were used primarily as radar‑tracking targets for the Soviet anti‑satellite (ASAT) programme, Istrebitel Sputnikov.
Key data (as recorded in open‑source satellite registers)
| Parameter | Record |
|---|---|
| Launch vehicle | Kosmos‑2I 63SM |
| Launch site | Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Site 132/1 |
| Launch date | 1970 (exact UTC date varies among sources) |
| Spacecraft type | DS‑P1‑M (ASAT target) |
| Mass | ≈ 400 kg |
| Orbit | Low‑Earth orbit; typical inclination ≈ 65° and altitude ≈ 250–300 km |
| Mission purpose | Radar‑tracking and interception tests for the Istrebitel Sputnikov ASAT system |
| Decay | Re‑entered the atmosphere in the early 1970s (exact date not consistently reported) |
Context
The “Kosmos” designation was applied by the Soviet Union to a wide variety of military, scientific, and technology‑demonstration satellites. The DS‑P1‑M series, to which Kosmos 324 belonged, were specifically engineered as targets for testing ground‑based and space‑based interceptor weapons. As such, detailed mission information was often classified, and most open‑source references provide only basic orbital and launch data.
References
- NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) satellite catalog entries for “Kosmos 324”.
- Jonathan McDowell’s “Satellite Catalog” (publicly accessible orbital element listings).
No additional verified narrative or operational details have been released in declassified Soviet or Russian documentation; therefore, the description above reflects the extent of information available in established open‑source encyclopedic resources.
