NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

Radio-Sputnik 3 to 8

Launch Time
Thu Dec 17, 1981 11:00 UTC

Rocket

Cosmos-3M
Image Credit: OKB-586
RVSN USSR
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 1,486 kN
Payload to LEO: 1,500 kg
Payload to GTO: 0 kg
Stages: 2
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 32.42 m
Fairing Diameter: 2.44 m
Fairing Height: 5.72 m

Mission Details

Radio-Sputnik 3 to 8

Radio Sputnik 3 to 8 (RS 3 to 8) was a series of Soviet amateur radio satellites.

RS-3 and 4 were developed by the amateur radio club of the DOSAAF (Dobrovol'noe Obshchestvo Sodeistviia Armii, Aviatsii i Flotu), an organization responsible for paramilitary training of Soviet youth. The other were developed by the Radio Sputnik group.

The satellite structures were provided by NPO Prikladnoi Mekhaniki (NPO PM) based on the Strela-1M tactical store-dump satellites.

RS-3 and RS-4 were experimental satellites and did not contain transponders for general use. The remaining satellites contained Mode A linear transponders.

RS-5 and RS-7 both contained autotransponders called ROBOTS. These ROBOTS made it possible to carry on a CW telegraphy contact with the spacecraft. A typical communication with the ROBOT would be initiated by the radio amateur on the ROBOT uplink frequency and the satellite would respond with a short message and issue a QSO number.

Payloads: 6
Total Mass: 462.0 kg
Low Earth Orbit

Location

Site 132/2, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia

Stats

1981

122nd orbital launch attempt

Cosmos-3

269th mission
18th mission of 1981
250th successful mission
6th consecutive successful mission