Kosmos 123


Kosmos 123, also known as DS-P1-Yu No.5 was a Soviet satellite which was used as a radar calibration target for tests of anti-ballistic missiles. It was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme.
A Kosmos-2I 63S1 carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 123. The launch occurred from Site 86/1 at Kapustin Yar, at 05:31 GMT on 8 July 1966. and following its successful arrival in orbit the spacecraft received its Kosmos designation; along with the International Designator 1966-061A and the Satellite Catalog Number 02295.
Kosmos 123 separated from the carrier rocket into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of, an apogee of, an inclination of 48., and an orbital period of 92.2 minutes. It decayed from orbit on 10 December 1966. Kosmos 123 was the sixth of seventy-nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched, and the fifth of seventy-two to successfully reach orbit.