Kosmos (rocket family)
Encyclopedia
The Kosmos rockets are a series of Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and subsequently Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n rockets, derived from the R-12 and R-14 missiles, the most well known of which is the Kosmos-3M, which has made over 440 launches, and is still in service. The Kosmos family contains a number of rockets, both carrier rockets and sounding rocket
Sounding rocket
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

s, for orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...

al and sub-orbital spaceflight respectively. The first variant, the Kosmos-2I
Kosmos-2I
Kosmos-2I is the designation applied to two Soviet carrier rockets, members of the R-12 family, which were used to orbit satellites between 1961 and 1977. They were superseded by the R-14 derived Kosmos-3 and Kosmos-3M.-References:* http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/koss63s1.htm*...

, first flew on 27 October 1961. Over 700 Kosmos rockets have been launched overall.

Variants

Designation GRAU
Grau
Grau is a German word meaning "gray" and a Catalan word meaning "grade". It may refer to:* BAP Almirante Grau , a De Zeven Provinciën class cruiser in service with the Peruvian Navy* Grau Käse, Tyrolean grey cheese...

 index
Purpose Derived from Maiden flight Final flight Remarks
Kosmos-2I
Kosmos-2I
Kosmos-2I is the designation applied to two Soviet carrier rockets, members of the R-12 family, which were used to orbit satellites between 1961 and 1977. They were superseded by the R-14 derived Kosmos-3 and Kosmos-3M.-References:* http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/koss63s1.htm*...

63S1 Carrier rocket R-12 27 October 1961 19 December 1967
Kosmos-1
Kosmos-1
The Kosmos-1 was a Soviet carrier rocket, derived from the R-14 missile, which was used to orbit satellites in 1964 and 1965. It served as an interim, and was quickly replaced by the Kosmos-3...

65S3 Carrier rocket R-14 18 August 1964 28 December 1965
Kosmos-2M 63S1M Both R-12
Kosmos-2I
Kosmos-2I
Kosmos-2I is the designation applied to two Soviet carrier rockets, members of the R-12 family, which were used to orbit satellites between 1961 and 1977. They were superseded by the R-14 derived Kosmos-3 and Kosmos-3M.-References:* http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/koss63s1.htm*...

11K63 Carrier rocket R-12 24 May 1966 18 June 1977
Kosmos-3
Kosmos-3
The Kosmos-3 was a Soviet carrier rocket, derived from the R-14 missile, which was used to orbit satellites between 1966 and 1968. It was quickly replaced by the modernised Kosmos-3M. Six were flown, four as orbital carrier rockets, and two on sub-orbital flights...

11K65 Carrier rocket R-14 16 November 1966 27 August 1968
Kosmos-3M 11K65M Carrier rocket R-14 15 May 1967 Active
Kosmos-3MR 65MR Sounding rocket
Sounding rocket
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

R-14 1 January 1973 Active
Kosmos-3MP 65MP Sounding rocket R-14
Kosmos-3MRB 65MRB Sounding rocket R-14 5 December 1980 21 June 1988
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