COSPAR ID 1964-069A Rocket Kosmos-2I 63S1 Reference system Geocentric Inclination 48.9° Launch mass 355 kg Manufacturer Yuzhnoye Design Office | Spacecraft type DS-MG Launch site Kapustin Yar Mayak-2 Launch date 24 October 1964 Period 1.5 hours Apogee 472,000 m Mission type Technology | |
Decay date 21 August 1965 (1965-08-22) | ||
Kosmos 49 (Russian: Космос 49 meaning Cosmos 49), also known as DS-MG No.2 was a technology demonstration satellite which was launched by the Soviet Union in 1964 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. Its primary mission was to demonstrate an electric gyrodyne orientation system. It also carried several scientific research packages as secondary payloads.
It was launched aboard a Kosmos-2I 63S1 rocket from pad 2 of the Mayak Launch Complex at Kapustin Yar. The launch occurred at 05:16 UTC on 24 October 1964.
Kosmos 49 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 260 kilometres (160 mi), an apogee of 472 kilometres (293 mi), 48.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.9 minutes. It decayed from orbit on 21 August 1965. Kosmos 49 was the second of two DS-MG satellites to be launched, the other being Kosmos 26. In addition to technological research, it also conducted scientific research into the Earth's magnetosphere, infrared flux and ultraviolet flux.