History of Science and Engineering Annotation << Back «Cosmos-954» &#8210; the Story of the Fall of a Satellite With a Nuclear Reactor Batchenko V.S. The article examines the details of the crash of the Soviet satellite ‟Cosmos-954” in Canada in 1978. Based on the documents of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the preparation of the Soviet Union for the fall of the satellite during 18 days of uncontrolled descent is shown. The reaction abroad, step-by-step demands for damages from the Canadian side, and guidelines for negotiations for the Soviet delegation are analyzed. The further history of the launch of satellites with nuclear reactors in the MKRTz system and the impact of the ‟Canadian incident” on the development of international space law are briefl y described. Keywords: history of cosmonautics, soviet space, satellites “Cosmos”, MKRTz, BES-5, RORSAT DOI: 10.25791/intstg.10.2025.1576 Pp. 11-17.