The Historic Beginnings Of The Space Arms Race Part Two

From Space War:

he Soviet government was set to adopt the Polyot-Kosmos anti-satellite -- ASAT -- weapons system after Kosmos-252 successfully destroyed the first spacecraft in orbit on Nov. 1, 1968, and after successful subsequent launches.

However, in 1972 the Soviet Union and the United States signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty -- SALT-I -- and the Anti-Ballistic Missile -- ABM -- Treaty, which also covered ASAT systems.

Depending on the pace of bilateral talks, the ASAT test program was either mothballed or resumed. The ASAT system was eventually adopted and subsequently upgraded.

In 1976 the Soviet Union began to launch second-generation satellite interceptors, featuring new target-acquisition and homing systems, first installed aboard Kosmos-814. Flying along a lower orbit, the latter quickly overtook the target satellite, accelerated and found itself less than 1,000 meters from the "victim."

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