Mission type Optical imaging SATCAT no. 968 Spacecraft type Zenit-2 Launch date 11 January 1965 | COSPAR ID 1965-001A Mission duration 8 days Manufacturer OKB-1 | |
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Kosmos 52 (Russian: Космос 52 meaning Cosmos 52) or Zenit-2 No.26 was a Soviet optical film-return reconnaissance satellite launched in 1965. A Zenit-2 spacecraft, Kosmos 52 was the twenty-fifth of eighty-one such satellites to be launched and had a mass of 4,730.0 kilograms (10,427.9 lb).
Kosmos 52 was launched by a Vostok-2 rocket, serial number R15002-03, flying from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 09:36 UTC on 11 January 1965, with the spacecraft receiving its Kosmos designation - along with the International Designator 1965-001A and the Satellite Catalog Number 968 - upon its successful insertion into orbit. It was the first satellite to be launched in the year 1965.
Kosmos 52 was operated in a low Earth orbit; at an epoch of 13 January 1965 it had a perigee of 200 kilometres (120 mi), an apogee of 295 kilometres (183 mi) inclination of 64.9 degrees and an orbital period of 89.45 minutes. On 19 January 1965, eight days after launch, Kosmos 52 was deorbited so that its return capsule could be recovered and its photos developed and analysed.