| Kosmos 426 | |
| Mission Type: | Magnetospheric |
| Cospar Id: | 1971-052A |
| Spacecraft Type: | DS-U2-K |
| Manufacturer: | Yuzhnoye |
| Launch Date: | UTC |
| Launch Site: | Plesetsk 132/2 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth |
| Orbit Inclination: | 74 degrees |
| Orbit Period: | 109.2 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
Kosmos 426 (Russian: Космос 426 meaning Cosmos 426), also known as DS-U2-K No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1971 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 680kg (1,500lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to study charged particles and radiation in the Earth's magnetosphere.[1]
A Kosmos-3M carrier rocket, with serial number 65014-101, was used to launch Kosmos 426 into low Earth orbit.[2] The launch took place from Site 132/2 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.[2] The launch occurred at 18:10:00 UTC on 4 June 1971, and resulted in the successful insertion of the satellite into orbit.[3]
Upon reaching orbit, the satellite was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1971-052A.[4] The North American Aerospace Defense Command assigned it the catalogue number 05281.
Kosmos 426 was the only DS-U2-K satellite to be launched.[1] [5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of, an apogee of, 74 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 109.2 minutes. It was operated until 12 January 1972,[6] and subsequently remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 11 May 2002.[7]