Mission type Optical imaging SATCAT no. 2163 Spacecraft type Zenit-2 Launch date 6 May 1966 | COSPAR ID 1966-037A Mission duration 8 days Manufacturer OKB-1 | |
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Kosmos 117 (Russian: Космос 117 meaning Cosmos 117) or Zenit-2 No.39 was a Soviet optical film-return reconnaissance satellite launched in 1966. A Zenit-2 spacecraft, Kosmos 117 was the thirty-eighth of eighty-one such satellites to be launched and had a mass of 4,730.0 kilograms (10,427.9 lb).
Kosmos 117 was launched by a Vostok-2 rocket, serial number N15001-01, flying from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 11:02 UTC on 6 May 1966, and following its successful arrival in orbit the spacecraft received its Kosmos designation; along with the International Designator 1966-037A and the Satellite Catalog Number 2163.
Kosmos 117 was operated in a low Earth orbit; at an epoch of 8 May 1966 it had a perigee of 204 kilometres (127 mi), an apogee of 296 kilometres (184 mi) inclination of 64.9 degrees and an orbital period of 89.5 minutes. After eight days in orbit, Kosmos 117 was deorbited, with its return capsule descending under parachute and landing at 08:24 UTC on 14 May 1966.