Kosmos 408

Kosmos 408, known before launch as DS-P1-Yu No.37, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1971 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.

Launch

Kosmos 408 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit on 24 April 1971, with the rocket lifting off at 11:15:02 UTC. The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, and used a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket.

Orbit

Upon reaching orbit, it was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1971-037A.
Kosmos 408 was the forty-first of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched, and the thirty-seventh of seventy two to successfully reach orbit. It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of, an apogee of, 81.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 100.66 minutes. It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 29 December 1971.