Mission type Optical imaging SATCAT no. 571 Spacecraft type Zenit-2 Rocket Vostok-2 | COSPAR ID 1963-012A Mission duration 10 days Launch date 28 April 1963 | |
Launch mass 4,730.0 kilograms (10,427.9 lb) Manufacturer S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia People also search for Kosmos 18, Kosmos 15, Kosmos 13 | ||
Kosmos 16 (Russian: Космос 16 meaning Cosmos 16) or Zenit-2 No.10 was a Soviet optical film-return reconnaissance satellite which was launched in 1963. A Zenit-2 satellite, Kosmos 16 was the tenth of eighty-one such spacecraft to be launched and had a mass of 4,730.0 kilograms (10,427.9 lb).
A Vostok-2 rocket, serial number E15000-02, was used to launch Kosmos 16. The launch took place at 08:49:56 UTC on 28 April 1963, using Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Following its successful arrival in orbit the spacecraft received its Kosmos designation, along with the International Designator 1963-012A and the Satellite Catalog Number 571.
Kosmos 16 was operated in a low Earth orbit. On 30 April 1963 it had a perigee of 195 kilometres (121 mi), an apogee of 384 kilometres (239 mi), with inclination of 65 degrees and an orbital period of 90.3 minutes. A malfunction of the spacecraft's attitude control system resulted in the satellite being able to return only some of the images which it had been programmed to produce. After ten days in orbit, the spacecraft was deorbited on 8 May 1963. Its return capsule descended under parachute and was recovered by Soviet forces.