Mission type Aeronomy
Auroral Spacecraft type DS-U2-GK Rocket Kosmos-2I 63SM Launch date 13 June 1970 Decay date 25 July 1970 | COSPAR ID 1970-044A Launch mass 357 kilograms (787 lb) Launch site Plesetsk 133/1 Manufacturer Yuzhnoye Design Office | |
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Kosmos 348 (Russian: Космос 348 meaning Cosmos 348), also known as DS-U2-GK No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1970 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 357-kilogram (787 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to study the density of air in the upper atmosphere, and investigate aurorae.
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Launch
A Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 348 into low Earth orbit. The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, with liftoff occurring at 04:59:57 UTC on 13 June 1970. Kosmos 348 was successfully inserted into orbit. Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1970-044A. The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 04413.
Orbit
Kosmos 348 was the second of two DS-U2-GK satellites to be launched. It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 199 kilometres (124 mi), an apogee of 589 kilometres (366 mi), 71 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 92.4 minutes. It decayed from orbit within a few weeks of its launch, reentering the atmosphere on 25 July 1970.