January 1987
From The Space Library
The American journal Aviation Week & Space Technology reported two serious Soviet setbacks in space that were not acknowledged by Soviet authorities. The magazine claimed that on January 29 the Soviets deliberately destroyed a Cosmos 1,813 military reconnaissance satellite they had launched on January 15, 1987. When the satellite malfunctioned upon reentry, its self-destruction system was activated to prevent it from striking a populated area or from falling into western hands.
Also according to this source, a Soviet SL-12 Proton booster rocket failed during launching on January 30, 1987. Its fourth and uppermost stage failed to ignite and the debris from the rocket and communications satellite it carried fell out of orbit a day later. (C Trib, Feb 7/87; NY Times, Feb 7/87)
- 1987
- January
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