Soviet Cosmos-1242 expired radio intelligence satellite of Tselina-D space system may sink in the Pacific Ocean on May 7, – representative of Russian Ministry of Defenсe press-office management on Aerospace Defenсe troops Alexey Zolotukhin reported.
It was reported earlier that the satellite was going to fall on April 28.
“According to the data Cosmos-1242 space device fragments will be deorbited on May 7, 2014. External agents may affect final time and place of the space device fragments’ fall at that”, – Zolotukhin stated.
At the present time the satellite is on the orbit, the orbit time amounts to 89 minutes, inclination – 81 degrees, apogee altitude – 269 km, perigee altitude -261 km.
Cosmos-1242 space device of Soviet and Russian radio intelligence space system was launched with the help of Vostok-2M booster from Plesetsk spaceport on 21 January, 1981.
Tselina system’s developed by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau aim was to register ground radio technical facilities’ emissions in the multifrequent electromagnetic spectrum from space. It enables to locate radio objects, determine its aims, types, characteristics, operation mode.
