Cosmos 1443

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Mission dates
Mission: Cosmos 1443
Crew: unmanned
Target: Salyut 7
Start vehicle: Proton K
Start on: March 2, 1983 / Baikonur
Coupling on: March 10, 1983
Decoupling on: August 14, 1983
Re-entry on: September 19, 1983
Flight duration: 201 days
burns up over: Pacific
Earth orbits: ?
previous DCS mission :

Cosmos 1267

following DCS mission :

Cosmos 1686

A Soviet spaceship of the TKS series was launched on March 2, 1983 under the name Kosmos 1443 . Originally, the TKS ships, which are quite large at around 20 tons, were planned as space shuttles for passenger transport in the military Almas program (for comparison: the Soviet Soyuz spaceships for the transport of two to three people weigh less than eight tons). Manned flights were never realized with TKS. The TKS-3 ferry was converted and launched unmanned as Kosmos 1443 to supply the Salyut 7 space station with supplies and around four tons of fuel. On March 10th, Kosmos 1443 automatically docked at the front, thinner end of the Salyut 7 space station.

Return capsule from Kosmos 1443

A significant part of the payload was made up of new solar cells that were to be attached to the outside of Salyut 7 as part of EVAs . The commissioning of Kosmos 1443 should be carried out by the crew of Soyuz T-8 , which took off for the space station on April 20, 1983. However, problems arose with the Soyuz T-8's automatic coupling system, so that the planned coupling with the Salyut 7 / Kosmos 1443 orbital complex failed and the crew could not go on board. Kosmos 1443 was therefore only used by the Soyuz T-9 team launched on June 27, 1983 , which unloaded the payload delivered and mounted the solar cells on Salyut 7 outside to increase the energy supply. During the docked state, Kosmos supplemented the supply of the complex with electricity via its own solar cells in 1443 and carried out maneuvers for height and position control using its own engines. Gaining knowledge about the construction and operation of a modular space station also played an important role. On the basis of the TKS ferry, modules were developed for permanent stay at the Mir space stations ( e.g. Kwant-2 ) and ISS ( e.g. Sarja ).

After unloading and a total of 163 days in coupled flight, the feeder ship Kosmos 1443 was undocked again on August 14, 1983 and did not remain as a permanent module at the space station. In space in 1443 Kosmos severed the landing capsule originally intended for the crew, which landed in Kazakhstan and brought around 350 kg of material that was no longer needed back to earth. The remaining part of Kosmos 1443 burned up when it re-entered the earth's atmosphere on September 19, 1983.