A Titan HIE carrying a West German Helios payload was successfully launched from LC-41, Eastern Test Range. Solar probe. Solar Orbit (Heliocentric). Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).

Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Americas at 116 deg W in 1976-79; over the Pacific Ocean 142 deg W in 1979 As of 5 September 2001 located at 135.36 deg W drifting at 0.161 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 131.55W drifting at 0.190W degrees per day.

Continued operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita and participating international networks (international cooperation scheme).

Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean at 29.5 deg W in 1976-79; over the Atlantic Ocean 27.5 deg W in 1979-1980; over the Atlantic Ocean 21.5 deg W in 1980-1983; over the Indian Ocean 57 deg E in 1983-1984; over the Atlantic Ocean 2-4 deg W in 1984-1985 As of 3 September 2001 located at 151.88 deg E drifting at 2.088 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 130.98W drifting at 2.123W degrees per day.

The government decree 132-51 authorising development of the Energia-Buran system was titled 'On development of an MKS (reusable space system) consisting of rocket stages, orbiter aircraft, inter-orbital tug, guidance systems, launch and landing facilities, assembly and repair facilities, and other associated facilities, with the objective of placing in a 200 km Northeast orbit a payload of 30 tonnes and returning a payload of 20 tonnes'. The Ministry of Defence was named the Program Manager, with NPO Energia as the prime contractor. The official military specification (TTZ) was issued at the same time with the code name Buran.

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On work on Energia-Buran, DOS-7K nos. 7 and 8, Gamma. Geyzer (Potok), and Altair (Luch) and cancellation of the N1' was issued. The design of an improved model of the Salyut DOS-17K space station was authorised as part of the third generation of Soviet space systems in a decree. At that time it was planned that the two stations (DOS-7 and DOS-8) would be equipped with two docking ports at either end of the station and an additional two ports at the sides of the forward small diameter compartment. Luch and Potok were elements of the second generation global command and control system (GKKRS) deployed in the first half of the 1980's. Luch satellites, analogous to the US TDRS, provided communications service to the Mir space station, Buran space shuttle, Soyuz-TM spacecraft, military satellites, and the TsUPK ground control center. They also served to provide mobile fleet communications for the Soviet Navy. Additional Details: here....

Maritime communications. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean at 15 deg W in 1976-1990; over the Americas at 106 deg W in 1990-1997 As of 2 September 2001 located at 168.03 deg W drifting at 3.834 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 20.39E drifting at 3.837W degrees per day.

Fourth Yantar-2K second generation reconnaissance flight and the first with two SpK small film recovery capsules. First flight of the completely equipped satellite. The main reentry capsule and its film cargo were returned successfully. Both SpK capsules successfully separated from the Yantar in the course of the flight, but neither was recovered. The parachutes of the first did not deploy and the capsule crashed into the ground. The solid motor of the second capsule did not fire as programmed and the capsule did not deorbit at the expected time.

A joint DOD/NASA study was carried out on the consolidation of expendable launch vehicles during transition to the space shuttle. The study recommended that the Interim Upper Stage, being developed for the space shuttle, be used with the Titan III during the transition period.

The advanced nosetip test vehicle (A.N.T.)-l was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB. The purpose of the flight was to test the performance of four nosetips of various materials and shapes with fine-weave carbon-carbon nosetips in high stagnation pressure and clean air.

Ionospheric sounding. Japanese Ionospheric Sounding Satellite (JISS - national name 'Ume') is intended for regular observations by means of radio waves of the global distribution of the critical frequencies of the ionosphere, and for utilization of the results of the observati on for radio wave forecasts and warning necessary for effective operation of short-wave radio-communication. Time of launch 0330UT.

Continued operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita and participating international networks (international cooperation scheme). Uncertain if Molniya-1T model was Molniya-1 or Molniya-1T.

Production Verification Missile (PVM)-13 was successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB. It was the last flight of the Wing VI hybrid explicit program prior to it becoming operational. It also served as a development test and evaluation/initial operational test and evaluation flight for the upgrade Wing VI configuration.

A Titan IIIC carrying a Space Test Program payload, Flight P74-1, was successfully launched from LC-40, Eastern Test Range. Flight P74-1 was made up of Lincoln Experimental Satellite 8 and 9 (LES 8/9) and Solar Radiation satellites 11A and B (SOLRAD 11A/B). Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication. Also tested pulsed plasma engines. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean at 1976-77; over the Americas at 106-110 deg W in 1978-1986; over the Atlantic Ocean 60-70 deg W in 1987-1991;over the Americas at 94-106 deg W in 1991-1992. As of 6 September 2001 located at 105.16 deg W drifting at 0.010 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 107.51W drifting at 0.001E degrees per day.

Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication. Also tested pulsed plasma engines. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean at 30-40 deg W in 1976-78; over the Americas at 90-100 deg W in 1980-81; over the Americas at 100-106 deg W in 1981-1990; over the Atlantic Ocean 10 deg W in 1991; over the Americas at 105 deg W in 1992-on. As of 1 September 2001 located at 103.85 deg W drifting at 0.023 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 107.07W drifting at 0.018W degrees per day.

Continued operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita and participating international networks (international cooperation scheme).

Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Americas at 119 deg W in 1976-1984 over the Pacific Ocean 139 deg W in 1984-1985 As of 5 September 2001 located at 72.03 deg W drifting at 5.939 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 127.82W drifting at 5.942W degrees per day.

A Thor/Delta carrying the NATO IIIA satellite was successfully launched from LC-17B, Eastern Test Range. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean at 18 deg W in 1976-1982; over the Atlantic Ocean 30 deg W in 1982-1984; over the Atlantic Ocean 50 deg W in 1984-1985; over the Atlantic Ocean at 30 deg W in 1985-1989; over the Americas at 125 deg W in 1989-1991 As of 5 September 2001 located at 4.12 deg E drifting at 1.524 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 142.00E drifting at 1.522W degrees per day.

The workers on the project put together a letter to the 25th Party Congress, saying that N1 development should continue, and that N1 s/n's 8, 9, and 10 should be flown. The Party did not accept the letter. They had been assured by the leadership that the population of the city of Leninsk, the extensive facilities and housing built for the N1, would all be used for the MKTS Soviet shuttle. Iosifiyan considered the N1 fundamentally flawed, a project that was only approved due to Kremlin politics.

LAGEOS (Laser Geodetic Satellite) was a very dense (high mass-to-area ratio) laser retroreflector satellite which provided a permanent reference point in a very stable orbit for such precision earth-dynamics measurements as crustal motions, regional strains, fault motions, polar motion and earth-rotation variations, solid earth tides, and other kinematic and dynamic parameters associated with earthquake assessment and alleviation. The performance in orbit of LAGEOS was limited only by degradation of the retroreflectors, so many decades of useful life can be expected. The high mass-to-area ratio and the precise, stable (attitude-independent) geometry of the spacecraft, together with the orbit, made this satellite the most precise position reference available. Because it is visible in all parts of the world and has an extended operation life in orbit, LAGEOS can serve as a fundamental standard for decades. Additional Details: here....

Continued operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita and participating international networks (international cooperation scheme).

Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Americas at 128 deg W in 1976-1981 over the Americas at 95 deg W in 1981-1983 over the Atlantic Ocean 76 deg W in 1983-1984 As of 4 September 2001 located at 48.64 deg E drifting at 1.641 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 31.21E drifting at 1.624W degrees per day.

A Scout vehicle carrying a Space Test Program spacecraft was successfully launched from SLC-5 at the Western Test Range. The spacecraft, Flight P76-5, carried a wideband signals experiment sponsored by the Defense Nuclear Agency. Communications propagation experiments.

Maritime communications. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean at 176 deg E in 1976-1991 over the Pacific Ocean 178 deg W in 1991-1996 As of 5 September 2001 located at 158.48 deg W drifting at 15.761 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 162.62W drifting at 15.745W degrees per day.

Decree 'On selection of design layout for Buran' was issued. Following exhaustive analysis and inability to improve on the design, a straight aerodynamic copy of the US space shuttle, was selected as the Buran orbiter configuration. MiG was selected as subcontractor to build the orbiter. For this purpose MiG spun off a new design bureau, Molniya, with G E Lozino-Lozinskiy as chief designer.

Decree 'On course of work on nuclear rocket engines' was issued. The 11B97 stage would have an electric capacity of 500-600 kW and would use specialised plasma-ion electric engines using standing plasma waves and anodes. It was powered from a reactor with a 200 litre core containing 30 kg of uranium fuel. In 1978 this engine was studied for use as a reusable interorbital space tug for launch by Energia-Buran.

Second successful flight of the Almaz manned military space station. It had taken only 60 days and 1450 man-hours to prepare Almaz 0101-2 for flight, using the services of 368 officers and 337 non-commissioned officers. The tracking ships Academician Sergei Korolev and Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin were stationed in the Atlantic and Caribean to provide communications when out of tracking range of the USSR. Salyut 5 operated for 409 days, during which the crews of Soyuz 22 and 24 visited the station. Soyuz 23 was to have docked but its long-distance rendezvous system failed. Soyuz 25 was planned, but the mission would have been incomplete due to low orientation fuel on Salyut 5, so it was cancelled.

During the flight of Salyut 5 a 'parallel crew' was aboard a duplicate station on the ground. They conducted the same operations in support of over 300 astrophysical, geophysical, technological, and medical/biological experiments. Astrophysics studies included an infrared telescope-spectrometer in the 2-15 micrometer range which also obtained solar spectra. Earth resources studies were conducted as well as Kristall, Potok, Diffuziya, Sfera, and Reatsiya technology experiments. Presumably Salyut 5 was equipped with a SAR side-looking radar for reconnaissance of land and sea targets even through cloud cover.

The film capsule was ejected 22 February 1977 (and sold at Sotheby's, New York, on December 11, 1993!). The station was deorbited on 8 August 1977. In addition to the human crew two Russian tortoises (Testudo horsfieldi) and Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were flown.

The results of the Salyut 3 and 5 flights showed that manned reconnaissance was not worth the expense. There was minimal time to operate the equipment after the crew took the necessary time for maintenance of station housekeeping and environmental control systems. The experiments themselves showed good results and especially the value of reconnaissance of the same location in many different spectral bands and parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Additional Details: here....

Second generation geosynchronous ballistic missile launch detection satellite, remained in service for over eight years. Positioned over the Atlantic Ocean from 1976 to 1981: at 35 deg W in 1976-1977; at 65 deg W in 1977-1979; and 35 deg W in 1979-1980; and 65 deg W in 1980-1981. Then moved over the Pacific Ocean at 125 deg W, then 140 deg W in 1981-1982; then over the Indian Ocean at 75 deg E in 1982-1984.

Soyuz 21 with Volynov and Zholobov aboard hard-docked with the station on 6 July 1976 after failure of the Igla system at the last stage of rendezvous. Towards the end of the two month mission an early return to earth was requested due to the poor condition of flight engineer Zholobov (who was suffering from space sickness and psychological problems).

Palapa A1 and A2 were the initial elements of Indonesia's domestic communications satellite system. The spacecraft were identical to Canada's Anik and Western Union's Westars except for a modified parabolic reflector, enlarged to give maximum illumination of the Indonesian land mass. Operational lives for Palapa A1 and A2 ended June 1985 and January 1988, respectively. Spacecraft: Based on Hughes HS-333 design.1.5 m diameter parabolic reflector with 12 transponders working through 125 Earth stations. Spin stabilised with despun antenna and feeds. Payload: Both satellites carried 12 transponders that provided 4000 voice circuits or 12 simultaneous TV channels to the country's 6000+ inhabited islands. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean at 83 deg E in 1976-1986? As of 28 August 2001 located at 177.38 deg E drifting at 0.588 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 51.89W drifting at 0.649W degrees per day.

The first flight of the Advanced Inertial Reference Sphere (AIRS) occurred on STM-11W from Vandenberg AFB. The purpose of the AIRS flight test was to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the floating ball reference sphere. The flight was successful. It was also the first flight of the missile performance measurement system.

Viking 1 reached Mars orbit June 19, 1976. Landing was planned for the US Bicentennial on July 4, but was delayed until a suitable landing site was located. The lander separated from the orbiter and touched down on the western slope of Chryse Planitia (the Plains of Gold) at 22.3 deg N latitude, 48 deg longitude.

Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C). Launch vehicle put payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Americas at 95 deg W in 1976-1983 over the Americas at 76 deg W in 1983-1993 As of 28 August 2001 located at 172.63 deg W drifting at 1.031 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 150.18W drifting at 1.064W degrees per day.

Continued operation of the long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR central television programmes to stations in the Orbita and participating international networks (international cooperation scheme).

Lunar Sample Return. Landed on Moon 18 Aug 1976 at 02:00:00 GMT, Latitude 12.25 N, Longitude 62.20 E - Mare Crisium (Sea of Crisis). The last of the Luna series of spacecraft, Luna 24 was the third Soviet mission to retrieve lunar ground samples (the first two were returned by Luna 16 and 20). The mission successfully returned 170 grams of lunar samples to the Earth on 22 August 1976.