Soviet and Russian family of space launch vehicles
The
Kosmos
(also spelled
Cosmos
,
Russian:
Ко?смос
) rockets were a series of
Soviet
and subsequently Russian rockets, derived from the
R-12
and
R-14
missiles,
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
the best known of which is the
Kosmos-3M
, which has made over 440 launches. The Kosmos family contained a number of rockets, both
carrier rockets
and
sounding rockets
, for
orbital
and
sub-orbital
spaceflight respectively. The first variant, the
Kosmos-2I
, first flew on 27 October 1961. Over 700 Kosmos rockets have been launched overall.
Variants
[
edit
]
Kosmos
[
edit
]
Kosmos
(
GRAU
Index:
63S1,
[3]
[4]
also known as
Cosmos
), was the name of a Soviet space rocket model active between 1961 and 1967. Kosmos was developed from the R-12 medium-range missile. It was launched a total of 38 times, with twelve failures.
Kosmos-1
[
edit
]
The
Kosmos-1
(GRAU Index:
65S3
,
[5]
also known as
Cosmos-1
) was derived from the R-14 missile and used between 1964 and 1965, being quickly replaced by the
Kosmos-3
. Eight Kosmos-1 were flown, all launched from
Site 41/15
at the
Baikonur Cosmodrome
.
Initial development was authorised in October 1961,
[6]
leading to a maiden flight on 18 August 1964, carrying three
Strela
satellites. Strela-1 satellites were flown on seven flights, three on each of the first four and five on the next three. The eighth and final flight carried one. All flights were successful except the second.
[5]
[6]
Kosmos-2M
[
edit
]
The
Kosmos-2M
(GRAU Index:
63S1M
, also known as
Cosmos-2M
) rocket was the prototype preceding the Kosmos-2I rocket.
[7]
It launched the
Kosmos 106
and
Kosmos 97
[8]
[9]
satellites, from Area 86 at
Kapustin Yar
.
[10]
Kosmos-2I
[
edit
]
Kosmos-2I
(GRAU Index:
11K63
,
[4]
also known as
Cosmos-2I
or
Kosmos-2
[11]
), derived from the
R-12
missile, was used to orbit satellites between 1961 and 1977. It was superseded by the
R-14
derived Kosmos-3 and Kosmos-3M.
Kosmos-3
[
edit
]
Kosmos-3
|
Function
| Carrier rocket
|
---|
Manufacturer
| Krasnoryarsk
|
---|
Country of origin
| Soviet Union
|
---|
|
Height
| 26.3 metres (86 ft)
|
---|
Diameter
| 2.4 metres (7.9 ft)
|
---|
Mass
| 107,500 kilograms (237,000 lb)
|
---|
Stages
| 2
|
---|
|
|
Mass
| 1,400 kilograms (3,100 lb)
|
---|
|
---|
|
Status
| Retired
|
---|
Launch sites
| Site 41/15
,
Baikonur
|
---|
Total launches
| 4 (+2 suborbital)
|
---|
Success(es)
| 2 (+2 suborbital)
|
---|
Failure(s)
| 2
|
---|
First flight
| 16 November 1966
|
---|
Last flight
| 27 August 1968
|
---|
|
|
Powered by
| 1
RD-216
|
---|
Maximum thrust
| 1,740 kilonewtons (390,000 lbf)
|
---|
Specific impulse
| 292 sec
|
---|
Burn time
| 130 seconds
|
---|
Propellant
| HNO
3
/
UDMH
|
---|
|
Powered by
| 1
11D49
|
---|
Maximum thrust
| 156 kilonewtons (35,000 lbf)
|
---|
Specific impulse
| 303 sec
|
---|
Burn time
| 375 seconds
|
---|
Propellant
| HNO
3
/
UDMH
|
---|
|
|
The
Kosmos-3
(GRAU Index:
11K65
,
[12]
also known as
Cosmos-3
), derived from the R-14 missile, was used to orbit satellites between 1966 and 1968, being quickly replaced by the modernised Kosmos-3M. Six were flown, four as orbital carrier rockets, and two on sub-orbital flights. All launches occurred from Site 41/15 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The Kosmos-3 made its maiden flight on 16 November 1966, carrying a Strela-2 satellite. Strela-2 satellites were flown on four flights, two of which failed. Two further, sub-orbital launches were conducted with
VKZ
[
ru
]
payloads, both of which were successful.
[12]
[13]
Kosmos-3M
[
edit
]
The Kosmos-3M was a liquid-fueled two-stage launch vehicle, first launched in 1967 and with over 420 successful launches to its name. The Kosmos-3M used
UDMH
fuel and AK27I oxidizer (
red fuming nitric acid
) to lift roughly 1,400 kg (3,100 lb) of payload into orbit. It differed from the earlier Kosmos-3 in its finer control of the second-stage burn, allowing operators to tune the thrust and even channel it through nozzles that helped orient the rocket for the launching of multiple satellites at one time.
PO Polyot
manufactured these launch vehicles in the Russian city of
Omsk
for decades. It was originally scheduled to be retired from service in 2011;
[15]
however, in April 2010 the Commander of the Russian Space Forces confirmed that it would be retired by the end of 2010.
[16]
One further launch, with
Kanopus-ST
, was planned; however, this was cancelled in late 2012 as the launch vehicle had exceeded its design life while in storage ahead of the launch.
Kosmos-3MR
[
edit
]
The
Kosmos-3MR
rocket (GRAU Index:
65MP
, also known as
Cosmos-3MR
),
[17]
was an adaptation of the Kosmos-3MR rocket intended for suborbital and a single orbital launch for subscale launches of
Spiral
and
Buran
crewed spaceplanes.
Launches
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Wade, Mark.
"Kosmos 2"
.
Encyclopedia Astronautica
. Archived from
the original
on 18 June 2012
. Retrieved
25 October
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Wade, Mark.
"Kosmos 3"
. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from
the original
on 6 September 2008
. Retrieved
25 October
2008
.
- ^
a
b
Krebs, Gunter.
"Kosmos (63S1)"
.
Gunter's Space Page
. Retrieved
19 February
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
Gunter, Gunter.
"Kosmos-2 (11K63)"
.
Gunter's Space Page
. Retrieved
19 February
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Krebs, Gunter.
"Kosmos-1 (65S3)"
. Gunter's Space Page
. Retrieved
24 October
2008
.
- ^
a
b
Wade, Mark.
"Kosmos 3"
. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from
the original
on 6 September 2008
. Retrieved
24 October
2008
.
- ^
Wade, Mark.
"Kosmos 63S1"
.
www.astronautix.com
. Retrieved
28 February
2024
.
- ^
"Cosmos"
.
weebau.com
. Retrieved
28 February
2024
.
- ^
Ford, Dominic.
"SL-7 R/B"
.
In-The-Sky.org
. Retrieved
28 February
2024
.
- ^
"Kapustin Yar - OrbiterWiki"
.
www.orbiterwiki.org
. Retrieved
28 February
2024
.
- ^
Krebs, Gunter.
"Kosmos / Kosmos-2"
.
space.skyrocket.de
. Retrieved
22 June
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Wade, Mark.
"Kosmos 3"
.
Encyclopedia Astronautica
. Archived from
the original
on 6 September 2008
. Retrieved
25 October
2008
.
- ^
a
b
Krebs, Gunter.
"Kosmos-3 (11K65)"
. Gunter's Space Page. Archived from
the original
on 11 April 2013
. Retrieved
25 October
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
McDowell, Jonathan.
"R-14"
.
Launch vehicles Database
. Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from
the original
on 12 February 2012
. Retrieved
25 October
2008
.
- ^
"С космодрома Плесецк запущена ракета-носитель с двумя спутниками"
.
Lenta.ru - Новости России и мира сегодня
(in Russian). 21 July 2009.
- ^
Нечаев, Геннадий (9 April 2010).
"Чтобы виделось лучше"
.
ВЗГЛЯД.РУ - последние новости и аналитические материалы
(in Russian).
- ^
Wade, Mark.
"Kosmos 65MP"
.
www.astronautix.com
. Retrieved
28 February
2024
.
Rocket families
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Carrier rockets
| China
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Europe / ESA
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India
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Japan
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Soviet Union / Russia
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Soviet Union / Ukraine
| |
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United States
| |
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Other nations
| |
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Sounding rockets
| |
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Missiles
| |
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- Some families include both missiles and carrier rockets; they are listed in both groups.
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Current
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In development
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Retired
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Classes
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- This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future
- Symbol
†
indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)
|
|
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Active
| |
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In development
| |
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Retired
| |
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Cancelled (no launch attempts)
| |
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