Kosmos 1867

Kosmos 1867 (Космос 1867) is a radar ocean reconnaissance satellite (RORSAT) that was launched by the Soviet Union July 10, 1987. It was put into a high orbit about 800 km from the Earth's surface. Its mission was monitoring the oceans for naval and merchant vessels. It had a mission life of about eleven months. It was powered by a nuclear reactor.

Description
Kosmos 1867 was launched on July 10, 1987 on a Tsyklon-2 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was put into an orbit about 800 km above the Earth's surface at an inclination of 65° and a period of 100.8 minutes. Its NSSDC ID is 1987-060A, and its NORAD ID is 18187. The satellite had a mission life of about 11 months.

The satellite was powered by TOPAZ 1 nuclear reactor. This was cooled by liquid sodium-potassium, NaK, metal, it uses a high-temperature moderator containing hydrogen and highly enriched fuel. It produces electricity using a thermionic converter. It had a Plazma-2 SPT electric engine.

Its mission was to search the oceans for naval and merchant vessels. Unlike earlier Soviet RORSAT satellites, Kosmos 1867 and its twin, Kosmos 1818, were launched into high orbits. This avoided mishaps, such as occurred with Kosmos 954, which broke up over Canada in 1978, showering the Earth with radioactive debris.

In 1992, Kosmos 1867 had an approximate visual magnitude of 3.3.

Unlike Kosmos 1818, which generated debris when it was either hit object or a coolant tube cracked due to thermal stresses by repeated solar heating, there is no evidence of such debris from Kosmos 1867.