Mission type Optical imaging SATCAT no. 1903 Launch date 7 January 1966 | COSPAR ID 1966-001A Mission duration 8 days Manufacturer OKB-1 | |
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Kosmos 104 (Russian: Космос 104 meaning Cosmos 104) or Zenit-2 No.36 was a Soviet optical film-return reconnaissance satellite launched in 1966. A Zenit-2 spacecraft, Kosmos 104 was the thirty-second of eighty-one such satellites to be launched and had a mass of 4,730.0 kilograms (10,427.9 lb).
Kosmos 104 was launched by a Vostok-2 rocket flying from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 08:24 UTC on 7 January 1966; however, the carrier rocket malfunctioned, placing the spacecraft into the wrong orbit. The spacecraft received a Kosmos designation, along with the International Designator 1966-001A and the Satellite Catalog Number 1903.
Despite the problem during its launch, Kosmos 104 was able to complete most of its imaging mission. Its orbit, at an epoch of 8 January 1966, had a perigee of 193 kilometres (120 mi), an apogee of 380 kilometres (240 mi) inclination of 65 degrees and a period of 90.24 minutes. On 15 January 1966, after eight days in orbit, the satellite was deorbited with its return capsule descending by parachute for a successful recovery.