Mission type Technology Spacecraft type Omega Launch site Kapustin Yar Mayak-2 Inclination 48.9° Launch mass 200 kg Perigee 237,000 m | COSPAR ID 1963-050A Rocket Kosmos-2I 63S1 Launch date 13 December 1963 Period 1.5 hours Apogee 528,000 m Manufacturer Yuzhnoye Design Office | |
Decay date 27 March 1964 (1964-03-28) | ||
Kosmos 23 (Russian: Космос 23 meaning Cosmos 23), also known as Omega No.2, was a satellite which was launched by the Soviet Union in 1963. It was an Omega satellite, derived from the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik series. It was a 200-kilogram (440 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to conduct experiments with the use of gyroscopes to control spacecraft, for VNIIEM.
Kosmos 23 was launched from pad 2 of the Mayak Launch Complex at Kapustin Yar, aboard a Kosmos-2I 63S1 carrier rocket. The launch occurred at 14:15:00 UTC on 13 December 1963, and resulted in the successful insertion of the satellite into a low Earth orbit. Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1963-050A. The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 00707.
Kosmos 23 was the second of two Omega satellites to be launched, after Kosmos 14. It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 237 kilometres (147 mi), an apogee of 528 kilometres (328 mi), 48.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 92.2 minutes. It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 27 March 1964.