Kosmos 959

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = Kosmos 959

| mission_type = ASAT target

| operator =

| COSPAR_ID = 1977-101A

| SATCAT =

| mission_duration =

| spacecraft_type = Lira

| manufacturer = Yuzhnoye

| launch_mass = {{convert|650|kg}}

| launch_date = {{start-date|21 October 1977, 10:05|timezone=yes}} UTC

| launch_rocket = Kosmos-3M

| launch_site = Plesetsk 132/1

| orbit_epoch =

| orbit_reference = Geocentric

| orbit_regime = Low Earth

| orbit_periapsis = {{convert|146|km}}

| orbit_apoapsis = {{convert|850|km}}

| orbit_inclination = 65.8 degrees

| orbit_period = 94.6 minutes

| apsis = gee

| disposal_type = Deorbited

| decay_date = {{End date|1977|11|30|df=y}}

}}

Kosmos 959 ({{langx|ru|Космос 959}} meaning Cosmos 959) was a satellite which was used as a target for tests of anti-satellite weapons. It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1977 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme,{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dsp1m.htm|title=DS-P1-M|last=Wade|first=Mark|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=2009-06-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105105926/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/dsp1m.htm|archive-date=5 January 2009|df=dmy-all}} and used as a target for Kosmos 961, as part of the Istrebitel Sputnikov programme.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/craft/isa.htm|title=IS-A|last=Wade|first=Mark|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=2009-06-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122021229/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/isa.htm|archive-date=22 January 2012|df=dmy-all}}

It was launched aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket,{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan McDowell|publisher=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=2009-06-03}} from Site 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 10:05 UTC on 21 October 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/kosmos3.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906135113/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/kosmos3.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 September 2008|title=Kosmos 3|last=Wade|first=Mark|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=2009-06-03}}

Kosmos 959 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of {{convert|146|km}}, an apogee of {{convert|850|km}}, 65.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 94.6 minutes. It was successfully intercepted by Kosmos 961, as part of a non-destructive test. Following this, it decayed from orbit on 30 November 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|title=Satellite Catalog|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|publisher=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=2009-06-03}}

Kosmos 959 was the sixth of ten Lira satellites to be launched, of which all but the first were successful. Lira was derived from the earlier DS-P1-M satellite, which it replaced.