Kosmos 1

Kosmos 1 (Russian: Космос 1 meaning Cosmos 1), also known as DS-2 No.1 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 11 was a technology demonstration and ionospheric research satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. It was the first satellite to be designated under the Kosmos system, and the first spacecraft launched as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme to successfully reach orbit.

This article is about the Soviet satellite. For the solar sail, see Cosmos 1. For the rocket, see Kosmos-1.

Kosmos 1
Mission typeTechnology
Ionosphere
Harvard designation1962 Theta 1
COSPAR ID1962-008A
SATCAT no.00266
Mission duration70 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeDS-2
ManufacturerYuzhnoye
Launch mass315 kg [1]
Start of mission
Launch date16 March 1962, 11:59:00 GMT
RocketKosmos-2I 63S1 s/n 6LK
Launch siteKapustin Yar, Mayak-2
ContractorYuzhnoye
End of mission
Decay date25 May 1962
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude207 km
Apogee altitude649 km
Inclination49.0°
Period93.1 minutes
Epoch16 march 1962
 

Spacecraft

Its primary missions were to measure the performance of its carrier rocket, and to conduct research into the ionosphere.[2] It had a mass of 315 kg.[1]

Mission

It was launched on Kosmos-2I 63S1 s/n 6LK.[3] It was the third flight of the Kosmos-2I, and the first to successfully reach orbit. It was also the first Kosmos rocket of any type to successfully place a satellite into orbit. The launch was conducted from Mayak-2 at Kapustin Yar, and occurred at 11:59:00 GMT on 16 March 1962.[4] Kosmos 1 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 207 kilometres (129 mi), an apogee of 649 kilometres (403 mi), an inclination of 49.0°, and an orbital period of 93.1 minutes.[2] It decayed on 25 May 1962.[5]

Kosmos 1 was a DS-2 satellite, the first of two to be launched.[2] The second, DS-2 No.2, will be launched on 1 December 1964, but did not reach orbit after the payload fairing of the rocket carrying it failed to separate. The DS-2 was a scaled-down version of the earlier DS-1 satellite, without the cylindrical section for avionics, which was built after the first two DS-1 spacecraft failed, DS-1 No.1 on 27 October 1961, and DS-1 No.2 on 21 December 1961, to reach orbit.[3][6]

See also

References
  1. "Cosmos 1: Display 1962-008A". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Wade, Mark. "DS-2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  3. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  4. Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  5. McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  6. Wade, Mark. "DS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.