- Source: Kosmos 163
Kosmos 163 (Russian: Космос 163 meaning Cosmos 163), also known as DS-U2-MP No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1967 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 357 kilograms (787 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Office, and was used to investigate micrometeoroids and cosmic dust particles in near-Earth space.
A Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 163 into low Earth orbit. The launch took place from Site 86/1 at Kapustin Yar. The launch occurred at 05:03:00 GMT on 5 June 1967, and resulted in the successful insertion of the satellite into orbit. Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1967-056A. The North American Air Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 02832.
Kosmos 163 was the second of two DS-U2-MP satellites to be launched, after Kosmos 135. It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 244 kilometres (152 mi), an apogee of 611 kilometres (380 mi), an inclination of 48.4°, and an orbital period of 93.1 minutes. It decayed from its orbit and reentered the atmosphere on 11 October 1967.
See also
1967 in spaceflight