Kosmos (, , meaning ) is a designation given to many
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
s operated by the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia.
Kosmos 1
Kosmos 1 ( meaning ''Cosmos 1''), also known as DS-2 No.1 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 11 was a technology demonstration and ionosphere, ionospheric research satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. It was the first satellite ...
, the first spacecraft to be given a Kosmos designation, was launched on 16 March 1962.
History
The first Soviet satellites orbiting Earth were named
Sputnik
Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...
, Polyot (starting in 1963),
Elektron (in 1964),
Proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...
(in 1965), and
Molniya (in 1965), but most have been called Kosmos since
Kosmos 1
Kosmos 1 ( meaning ''Cosmos 1''), also known as DS-2 No.1 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 11 was a technology demonstration and ionosphere, ionospheric research satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1962. It was the first satellite ...
on 16 March 1962. The program has included uncrewed tests of crewed spacecraft and satellites for scientific research and military purposes.
, 2548 Kosmos satellites have been launched. The spacecraft do not form a single programme, but instead consist of almost all Soviet and Russian military satellites, as well as a number of scientific satellites, and spacecraft which failed during or immediately after launch, but still reached orbit.
Most Soviet and subsequently Russian military satellites were given Kosmos designations. Spacecraft include
optical reconnaissance satellites,
communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...
s, early warning missile defence spacecraft,
nuclear-powered
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
radar reconnaissance satellites,
anti-satellite weapon
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for Military strategy, strategic or Military tactics, tactical purposes. Although no ASAT system has been utilized in warfare, a few countries (China, ...
s and their targets,
navigation satellites and
technology demonstrators. Some
scientific spacecraft such as
Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik
Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik (; ), also known as DS, was a series of satellites launched by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1982. DS satellites were used for a number of missions, including technological and scientific research, and radar tracking t ...
,
Bion and
Meteor
A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere,
creating a ...
satellites were also given Kosmos designations.
The designation is given only to satellites which are in Earth orbit. Typically, Soviet Lunar and planetary missions were initially put into a
low Earth parking orbit along with an
upper stage
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own Rocket engine, engines and Rocket propellant, propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of anoth ...
, which would later burn for around four minutes to place the spacecraft into a
cislunar or a
heliocentric orbit
A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun ...
. If the engine misfired or the burn was not completed, the probes which would be left in Earth orbit would be given a Kosmos designation.
Control systems for 152 spacecraft which were later assigned Kosmos designations were developed and manufactured by
NPO Electropribor (
Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine. ).
Early Kosmos satellites
Kosmos 1
Kosmos 1, also known as Sputnik 11, was launched on 16 March 1962 at 12:00:00
GMT.
Orbital mass 285 kg. It was the first satellite of the Soviet Earth Satellite series.
[The Sputnik program](_blank)
Professor Chris Mihos, Case Western Reserve University
Employed radio instruments in order to study the structure of the
ionosphere
The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...
.
Kosmos 2
Kosmos 2, also known as Sputnik 12, was launched on 6 April 1962 at 17:16:00 GMT.
Orbital mass 285 kg. It was the second satellite of the Soviet Earth Satellite series.
Employed radio instruments in order to study the structure of the ionosphere.
Kosmos 3
Kosmos 3, also known as Sputnik 13, was launched on 24 April 1962 at 04:04:00 GMT.
Orbital mass 330 kg. It belongs to the Soviet Earth Satellite series.
It was used to study the
upper layers of the atmosphere,
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
and the
outer space. Data was relayed to Earth by a multichannel telemetry systems equipped with space-borne memory units.
Kosmos 4
Kosmos 4, also known as Sputnik 14, was launched on 26 April 1962 at 10:04:00 GMT.
Orbital mass 4610 kg. It was used to study the upper layers of the atmosphere, Earth and the outer space. It was developed to measure radiation before and after nuclear tests conducted during the U.S. project Starfish.
Data was relayed to Earth by a multichannel telemetry systems equipped with space-borne memory units.
Kosmos 5
Kosmos 5, also known as Sputnik 15, was launched on 28 May 1962 at 03:07:00 GMT.
Orbital mass 280 kg. It was used to study the upper layers of the atmosphere, Earth and the outer space. Data was relayed to Earth by a multichannel telemetry systems equipped with space-borne memory units.
Kosmos 6
Kosmos 6, also known as Sputnik 16, was launched on 30 June 1962 at 16:04:00 GMT from
Kapustin Yar
Kapustin Yar () is a Russian military training area and a rocket launch complex in Astrakhan Oblast, about 100 km east of Volgograd. It was established by the Soviet Union on 13 May 1946. In the beginning, Kapustin Yar used technology, material ...
.
Orbital mass 355 kg. It was a Soviet DS (
Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik
Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik (; ), also known as DS, was a series of satellites launched by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1982. DS satellites were used for a number of missions, including technological and scientific research, and radar tracking t ...
) type military satellite built in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
for launch by Kosmos launch vehicles. It was used for military and scientific research and component proving tests.
Kosmos 7
Kosmos 7, also known as Sputnik 17, was launched on 28 July 1962 at 09:21:00 GMT.
Orbital mass 4610 kg. It was used to study the upper layers of the atmosphere, Earth and the outer space. Data was relayed to Earth by a multichannel telemetry systems equipped with space-borne memory units. It was used to measure radiation in the space environment in order to guarantee safety during the flight of the
Vostok 3 and
Vostok 4
Vostok 3 () and Vostok 4 (, 'Orient 4' or 'East 4') were Soviet space program flights in August 1962, intended to determine the Effect of spaceflight on the human body, ability of the human body to function in conditions of weightlessness, test ...
spacecraft.
Kosmos 8
Kosmos 8, also known as Sputnik 18, was launched on 18 August 1962 at 05:02:00 GMT from
Kapustin Yar
Kapustin Yar () is a Russian military training area and a rocket launch complex in Astrakhan Oblast, about 100 km east of Volgograd. It was established by the Soviet Union on 13 May 1946. In the beginning, Kapustin Yar used technology, material ...
.
Orbital mass 337 kg. It was a Soviet DS (Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik) type military satellite built in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
for launch by Kosmos launch vehicles. It was used for military and scientific research and component proving tests.
Other Kosmos satellites
*
Kosmos 21 - failed
Venus (Venera) probe mission
*
Kosmos 24 - failed Venus probe mission
*
Kosmos 47 - first uncrewed test flight of
Voskhod crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 57 - second uncrewed test flight of Voskhod crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 60 - failed
Moon (Luna) landing probe mission
*
Kosmos 96 - failed Venus landing probe mission
*
Kosmos 110 - first Soviet biosatellite (contained biological experiments)
*
Kosmos 111 - failed first Moon orbiting mission
*
Kosmos 122 - first Soviet
meteorological satellite
*
Kosmos 133 - first uncrewed test flight of
Soyuz
Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Soviet Union, Union of Soviet Socialist Republi ...
crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 140 - second uncrewed test flight of Soyuz crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 144 - a soviet meteorology satellite that predated the
Meteor
A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere,
creating a ...
program
*
Kosmos 146 - first uncrewed flight of planned crewed
L1 Moon-flyby spacecraft
*
Kosmos 154 - second uncrewed flight of planned crewed L1 Moon-flyby spacecraft
*
Kosmos 156 - a soviet satellite that predated the Meteor program
*
Kosmos 159 - failed probe satellite to test gravitational anomalies caused by the Moon
*
Kosmos 167 - failed Venus landing probe mission
*
Kosmos 186 and
188 - uncrewed test flights of Soyuz crewed spacecraft, the first ever automatic
docking of satellites
*
Kosmos 212 and
Kosmos 213 - uncrewed test flights of Soyuz crewed spacecraft with second automatic docking
*
Kosmos 238 - final test series of Soyuz programme spacecraft
*
Kosmos 300 - failed Moon sample return mission
*
Kosmos 305 - failed Moon sample return mission
*
Kosmos 359 - failed Venus landing probe mission
*
Kosmos 367 - one of the first launched satellite with an onboard nuclear reactor
US-A
Upravlyaemy Sputnik Aktivnyy ( for Controlled Active Satellite), or US-A, also known in the Western world as Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite or RORSAT ( GRAU index 17F16K), was a series of 33 Soviet reconnaissance satellites. Launched betwe ...
*
Kosmos 382 - first uncrewed flight of prototype of planned
LOK Moon-orbital spacecraft of L3 crewed Moon landing program
*
Kosmos 419 - failed
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
orbiting probe mission
*
Kosmos 482 - failed Venus landing probe mission, parts crashed in south New Zealand.
*
Kosmos 557
Kosmos 557 ( meaning ''Cosmos 557''), originally designated DOS-3, was the third space station in the Salyut program. It was originally intended to be launched as Salyut-3, but due to its failure to achieve orbit on May 11, 1973, three days befo ...
- failed third DOS type
space station
A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
in the
Salyut program
The ''Salyut'' programme (, , meaning "salute" or "fireworks") was the first space station programme, undertaken by the Soviet Union. It involved a series of four crewed scientific research space stations and two crewed military reconnaissa ...
*
Kosmos 605 - first of the
Bion series, containing biological organisms
*
Kosmos 638 - first uncrewed test flight of Soyuz/7K-TM crewed spacecraft for
Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)
*
Kosmos 670 - first uncrewed test flight of
Soyuz-VI/7K-S military crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 638 - second uncrewed test flight of Soyuz/7K-TM crewed spacecraft for ASTP
*
Kosmos 772 - second uncrewed test flight of Soyuz-VI/7K-S military crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 782 - first mission in which the U.S. participated in the Soviet Kosmos program
*
Kosmos 869 - third uncrewed test flight of Soyuz-VI/7K-S military crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 929 - first uncrewed flight of planned crewed
TKS
The TK (TK-3) and TKS were Poland, Polish tankettes developed during the 1930s and used in the Second World War.
Design and development
The TK (also known as the TK-3) tankette was a Polish design produced from 1931 based on the chassis of the ...
spacecraft
*
Kosmos 954 - launched with an onboard nuclear US-A reactor; failed (reasons uncertain) and re-entered atmosphere on 24 January 1978, strewing radioactive debris across northern Canada
*
Kosmos 1001 - first uncrewed test flight of
Soyuz-T
The Soyuz-T (, ''Union-T'') spacecraft was the third generation Soyuz spacecraft, in service for seven years from 1979 to 1986. The ''T'' stood for transport (, ). The revised spacecraft incorporated lessons learned from the Apollo Soyuz Test ...
crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 1074 - second uncrewed test flight of Soyuz-T crewed spacecraft
*
Kosmos 1267 - second flight of TKS spacecraft
*
Kosmos 1275 - believed to be the first spacecraft destroyed by
space debris
Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include dere ...
, but this is unconfirmed and there are other theories to explain its break up.
*
Kosmos 1374 - first flight of
BOR-4 prototype of
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects.
Two-dimensional
A two-dimension ...
military shuttle system
*
Kosmos 1375 - target satellite launched in Jun 1982 and intercepted and destroyed by
Kosmos 1379 a few weeks later.
*
Kosmos 1378 -
ELINT
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
satellite
*
Kosmos 1402
Kosmos 1402 () was a Soviet spy satellite that malfunctioned, resulting in the uncontrolled re-entry of its nuclear reactor and its radioactive uranium fuel. Kosmos 1402 was launched on August 30, 1982, and re-entered the atmosphere on 23 January ...
- failed
*
Kosmos 1408 - destroyed in an
anti-satellite weapon
Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) are space weapons designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for Military strategy, strategic or Military tactics, tactical purposes. Although no ASAT system has been utilized in warfare, a few countries (China, ...
test
*
Kosmos 1443 - third flight of TKS spacecraft
*
Kosmos 1445 - second flight of BOR-4 prototype of Spiral military shuttle system
*
Kosmos 1517 - third flight of BOR-4 prototype of Spiral military shuttle system
*
Kosmos 1614 - fourth flight of BOR-4 prototype of Spiral military shuttle system
*
Kosmos 1669 - control-restored flight of
Progress
Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...
cargo spacecraft
*
Kosmos 1686 - fourth flight of TKS spacecraft
*
Kosmos 1818 - first
RORSAT with
Topaz-1 nuclear reactor
*
Kosmos 1867 - second RORSAT with Topaz-1 nuclear reactor
*
Kosmos 1870 - uncrewed flight of
Almaz
The Almaz () program was a highly secret Soviet Union, Soviet military space station program, begun in the early 1960s.
Three crewed military reconnaissance stations were launched between 1973 and 1976: Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5.
To co ...
military station
*
Kosmos 2251 - collided with an
Iridium
Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density ...
satellite
*
Kosmos 2441 - first in a new series of spy satellites (
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
), features updated imaging technology and an extended lifetime of up to seven years, failed
*
Kosmos 2479
Kosmos 2479 ( meaning ''Cosmos 2479'') is a Russian US-KMO missile early warning satellite which was launched in 2012 as part of the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces' Oko programme. The satellite is designed to identify missile launches using in ...
- last
Oko US-KMO
US-KMO (), an abbreviation for Upravlyaemy Sputnik - Kontinenty Morya Okeany () meaning ''Controllable Satellite - Continents, Oceans, Seas'' is a series of Russian, previously Soviet, satellites which are used to identify ballistic missile launch ...
early warning satellite
An early warning satellite is an artificial satellite that detects ballistic missile launches in order to provide rapid early warning of a potential missile attack. Modern examples are often multi-purpose vehicles also supporting other wide-area ...
, launched on last
Proton-K launch vehicle
A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...
.
*
Kosmos 2480 -
Kobalt-M spy satellite, launched aboard the last
Soyuz-U
Soyuz-U ( GRAU index: 11A511U) was a Soviet and later Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress factory in Samara, Russia. The ''U'' designation stands for ''unified' ...
launch vehicle from
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome () is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, near the town of Plesetsk, from which it takes its name. Until 2025 and the commissioning of the Andøya Space, Andøya base in Norway, it was the only operati ...
.
See also
*
Russian space program
*
Bion (satellite)
The Bion satellites (), also named Biocosmos, is a series of Soviet (later Russian) biosatellites focused on space medicine.
Bion space program Bion precursor flights and Bion flights
The Soviet biosatellite program began in 1966 with ...
References
External links
Cosmos unmasked: studying Soviet and Russian space history in the 21st centuryby Dwayne A. Day
Recoverable Satellites under the Cosmos Programme
{{authority control
+
Satellites of the Soviet Union
Satellites of Russia