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DS-2
Credit - Yuzhnoye
Class: Technology. Destination: Maximum Payload Orbit. Nation: Ukraine. Manufacturer: Yuzhnoye.

A decision was made after two unsuccessful launches of the DS-1 to create a simplified DS-2 spacecraft based on the equipment and structural elements of DS-1 spacecraft. The cylindrical section for mission avionics was completely omitted.

Typical orbit: 207 km x 649 km at 49 degrees inclination. Mass: 315 kg (694 lb).

DS-2 Chronology
  • 1960 August 8 - Kosmos 63S1 small booster and DS small satellites authorised. - Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 2.
    Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Creation of the Rocket-Carrier 63S1 Based on the R-12 Missile, and the Development and Launch of Small Artificial Satellite--start of work on launcher and satellites at OKB-586'

  • 1962 March 16 - Cosmos 1 - Program: DS. Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Mayak-2. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 2. Mass: 47 kg (103 lb). Perigee: 207 km (128 mi). Apogee: 649 km (403 mi). Inclination: 49.00 deg. Period: 93.10 min.
    After five months of further work and tests to improve the reliability of the second stage, Yangel's team felt it was ready to again attempt a launch of the 63S1 booster. 63S1 s/n 6LK put a DS-2 satellite into orbit, which conducted studies of the ionosphere. This was the first successful launch of the Kosmos 63S1 launch vehicle. A decision was made after two unsuccessful launches of the DS-1 to create a simplified DS-2 spacecraft based on the equipment and structural elements of DS-1 spacecraft. The cylindrical section for mission avionics was completely omitted.

  • 1964 December 1 - DS-2 s/n 2 - Program: DS. Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: LC86/1. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 2. FAILURE: Payload shroud did not separate.
    A decision was made after two unsuccessful launches of the DS-1 to create a simplified DS-2 spacecraft based on the equipment and structural elements of DS-1 spacecraft. The cylindrical section for mission avionics was completely omitted.

Bibliography:

  • McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
  • JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
  • Zak, Anatoly, Spaceflight, "Cosmos Launcher", 1996, Volume 38, page 416.
  • Agapov, V, Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "K zapusku pervovo ISZ serii 'DS'", 1997, Issue 6.
  • Siddiqi, Asif A, The Soviet Space Race With Apollo, University Press of Florida, 2003.
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© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.
DS-2B
Credit- Yuzhnoye