Cosmos 1220

Launch data:

Mission details:

• Kosmos-1220 was launched on 1980 Nov 4 and ended its main mission on
  1981 Mar 27 when it raised its orbit to 406 x 465 km. A year later, on 1982 Jun 20, it exploded generating 81 pieces of debris, all but five of which re-entered during the 1980s. One small piece, 1980-089CJ (SSN 25795) remains today in a 486 x 647 km x 65.0 deg orbit. Most of the debris was small, but not all: 1980-089AS (SSN 13349) had a radar cross section of 17 square metres, larger than the main remnant of the Cosmos-1220 spacecraft itself (10.3 sq m) - perhaps it was a solar panel or the main cruciform antenna. 89AS reentered on 1982 Dec 15.
• The Cosmos-1220 satellite burned up over Tayma in northwestern Arabia on Feb 16, 2014 at 0140 UTC. Cosmos-1220 was a vehicle in the Soviet Union's US-P (Controlled Satellite - Passive) series, which featured radio antennae to monitor radio emissions from US Navy ships; it was powered by large solar panels. The US-P satellites operated in 400 km orbits. In many cases American radars detected evidence of explosions at the end of their missions, with dozens of pieces of debris appearing in nearby orbits. Strangely, for some vehicles there were multiple debris events over a period of months, long after the apparent end of mission; the explosions do not seem to have completed disrupted the spacecraft - their purpose and nature remain mysterious. Were the explosions deliberate or, perhaps, a consequence of a design flaw in the propulsion system?