| Kosmos 225 | |
| Mission Type: | Magnetosphere |
| Cospar Id: | 1968-048A |
| Satcat: | 03279 |
| Mission Duration: | 144 days |
| Spacecraft Type: | DS-U1-Ya |
| Manufacturer: | Yuzhnoye |
| Launch Mass: | 400 kg[1] |
| Launch Date: | 11 June 1968, 21:29:54 GMT |
| Launch Rocket: | Kosmos-2I 63SM |
| Launch Site: | Kapustin Yar, Site 86/4 |
| Launch Contractor: | Yuzhnoye |
| Last Contact: | 29 June 1968 |
| Decay Date: | 2 November 1968 |
| Orbit Epoch: | 11 June 1968 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 255 km |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 512 km |
| Orbit Inclination: | 48.4° |
| Orbit Period: | 92.2 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
Kosmos 225 (Russian: Космос 225 meaning Cosmos 225), also known as DS-U1-Ya No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1968 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to investigate cosmic rays and flows of charged particles in the Earth's magnetosphere.[2]
A Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket was used to launch Kosmos 225 into low Earth orbit. The launch took place from Site 86/4 at Kapustin Yar.[3] The launch occurred at 21:29:54 GMT on 11 June 1968, and resulted in the successful insertion of the satellite into orbit.[4] Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1968-048A.[5] The North American Air Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 03279.
Kosmos 225 was the second of two DS-U1-Ya satellites to be launched, but the only one to successfully reach orbit; the DS-U1-Ya No.1 satellite having been lost in a launch failure, on 6 March 1968, due to a second stage malfunction, 216 seconds into its flight.[6] Kosmos 225 was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 255km (158miles), an apogee of 512km (318miles), an inclination of 48.4°, and an orbital period of 92.2 minutes. It completed operations on 29 June 1968, before decaying from orbit and reentering the atmosphere on 2 November 1968.[7]