Q: What was the purpose of Cosmos 1240?

A: Cosmos 1240 was a military reconnaissance satellite developed under the Yantar-2K program to conduct optical surveillance from orbit. It gathered intelligence imagery for the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Q: When and where was Cosmos 1240 launched?

A: Cosmos 1240 was launched on January 20, 1981, at 11:00 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31 in Kazakhstan, which was then part of the Soviet Union.

Q: What kind of rocket was used to launch Cosmos 1240?

A: Cosmos 1240 was launched using a Soyuz-U rocket, a widely used variant of the Soyuz launcher family known for carrying various Soviet satellites into orbit.

Cosmos 1240

Thing yantar_2k Q12907336

Facts

7 properties

Instance of: Yantar-2K
Launch date: 1981-01-20
Launch vehicle: Soyuz-U
Significant event: rocket launch^[4]
Space launch vehicle: Soyuz-U^[2]
Start point: Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31^[5]
UTC date of spacecraft launch: January 20, 1981^[3]

🏷️ Also known as

en Cosmos 1240 fr Kosmos 1240 ru Космос-1240

🔖 Identifiers · 3

COSPAR ID: 1981-005A
SCN: 12143
Wolfram Language entity code: Entity["Satellite", "12143"]

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Instance of 1

Yantar-2K

Significant event 1

rocket launch

Space launch vehicle 1

Soyuz-U

Start point 1

Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31

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Summary

Cosmos 1240 is a Yantar-2K^[1].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[2] ↑ Cosmos 1240 — space launch vehicle (P375): Soyuz-U. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ Cosmos 1240 — UTC date of spacecraft launch (P619): January 20, 1981. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ Cosmos 1240 — significant event (P793): rocket launch. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.
[5] ↑ Cosmos 1240 — start point (P1427): Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31. Jonathan's Space Report. wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

[1] ↑ Cosmos 1240 is an instance of Yantar-2K (Q7904579) [P31, primary]. Wikidata. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Cosmos 1240. Retrieved May 3, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/cosmos-1240

MLA “Cosmos 1240.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 3 May. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/cosmos-1240.

BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_cosmos-1240_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Cosmos 1240}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/cosmos-1240}, note = {Accessed: 2026-05-03}}

LLM prompt

According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Cosmos 1240 — https://4ort.xyz/entity/cosmos-1240 (retrieved 2026-05-03)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/cosmos-1240 · Last refreshed: May 3, 2026