Select Page

Kosmos 348

Kosmos 348 (Russian: Космос 348 meaning Cosmos 348), also known as DS-U2-GK No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1970 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 357-kilogram (787 lb) spacecraft,[1] which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to study the density of air in the upper atmosphere, and investigate aurorae.[1]

Launch

A Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 348 into low Earth orbit. The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,[2] with liftoff occurring at 04:59:57 UTC on 13 June 1970. Kosmos 348 was successfully inserted into orbit.[3] On reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation and received the International Designator 1970-044A.[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 04413.

Orbit

Kosmos 348 was the second of two DS-U2-GK satellites to be launched.[1][5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 199 kilometres (124 mi), an apogee of 589 kilometres (366 mi), 71 degrees of inclination and an orbital period of 92.4 minutes. It decayed from orbit within a few weeks of its launch, re-entering the atmosphere on 25 July 1970.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wade, Mark. "DS-U2-GK". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  2. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  3. ^ Wade, Mark. "Kosmos 2". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  4. ^ "Cosmos 348". NSSDC Master Catalog. US National Space Science Data Center. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  5. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "DS-U2-GK". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  6. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 26 December 2009.