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Mission type | Ionospheric science | ||||||||||||
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Operator | Soviet space program | ||||||||||||
COSPAR ID | 1970-102A | ||||||||||||
SATCAT no. | 4783 | ||||||||||||
Mission duration | 54 years, 2 months, 3 days (in orbit) | ||||||||||||
Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||
Spacecraft type | Ionosfernaya | ||||||||||||
Bus | KAUR-1[1] | ||||||||||||
Manufacturer | OKB-10[2] | ||||||||||||
Launch mass | 710 kg (1,570 lb)[1][2] | ||||||||||||
Start of mission | |||||||||||||
Launch date | December 2, 1970, 04:00 UTC | ||||||||||||
Rocket | Kosmos-3M 11K65M | ||||||||||||
Launch site | Plesetsk 132/2[1] | ||||||||||||
End of mission | |||||||||||||
Disposal | Decommissioned | ||||||||||||
Last contact | January 1971[2] | ||||||||||||
Decay date | ~3170[3] | ||||||||||||
Orbital parameters | |||||||||||||
Reference system | Geocentric[1] | ||||||||||||
Regime | Low Earth orbit | ||||||||||||
Perigee altitude | 961 km (597 mi) | ||||||||||||
Apogee altitude | 1,007 km (626 mi) | ||||||||||||
Inclination | 74° | ||||||||||||
Period | 104.8 minutes | ||||||||||||
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Cosmos 381 (Russian: Космос 381) artificial satellite provided data on the physical characteristics of the layers of the Earth's Ionosphere using a Mayak radio transmitter. The study covered almost the entire global surface.[3]
The satellite was launched into a Low Earth Orbit by a Kosmos-3 rocket (11K65M) from the LC–132/2 starting point at Plesetsk Cosmodrome on the 2nd of December, 1970.
Orbit was 971km at periapsis and 1013km at apoapsis. Inclination 74 degrees. Decay into the Earth's atmosphere is expected after about 1,200 years.[3]