Mission type Magnetospheric Spacecraft type DS-U2-D Rocket Kosmos-2I 63S1 Launch date 21 December 1966 Decay date 23 November 1967 | COSPAR ID 1966-117A Launch mass 237 kilograms (522 lb) Launch site Kapustin Yar 86/1 Manufacturer Yuzhnoye Design Office | |
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Kosmos 137 (Russian: Космос 137 meaning Cosmos 137), also known as DS-U2-D No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 237-kilogram (522 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to investigate charged particles in the Earth's magnetosphere.
A Kosmos-2I 63S1 carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 137 into low Earth orbit. The launch took place from Site 86/1 at Kapustin Yar. The launch occurred at 13:11:59 GMT on 21 December 1966, 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 1966-117A. The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 02627.
Kosmos 137 was the first of two DS-U2-D satellites to be launched, and was followed by Kosmos 219. It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 221 kilometres (137 mi), an apogee of 1,622 kilometres (1,008 mi), 48.8 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 103.45 minutes. It completed operations on 12 May 1967, before decaying from orbit and reentering the atmosphere on 23 November.