Estimation of Orbital Decay for the Soviet Satellite COSMOS 1402

The algorithm was developed for the estimation of orbital decay of the Soviet Satellite COSMOS 1402 which divided into three body-COSMOS 1402-A, B and C- and fell down early in 1983. The perturbation effects due to the nonspherical geopotential and air drag were considered and the standard atmospheric model were built for obtaining the atmospheric density as a function of the height. The orbital elements of NASA GSFC during orbital decay used in estimation of orbital decay. We compared the estimation values with the published ones of the American State Department. In the case of COSMOS 1402-C, the estimated values accorded with the published ones but, in the case of COSMOS 1402-A, the decay time and the approximated position differed respectively one minute and two degrees in both latitude and longitude from the published ones.