Venera 2MV-1 No.2, also known as Sputnik 20 in the Western world, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the atmosphere a few days later. It was the second of two Venera 2MV-1 spacecraft, both of which failed to leave Earth orbit. The previous mission, Venera 2MV-1 No.1, was launched several days earlier.
Mars 2MV-4 No.1 also known as Sputnik 22 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Mars programme, and was intended to make a flyby of Mars, and transmit images of the planet back to Earth. Due to a problem with the rocket which launched it, it was destroyed in low Earth orbit. It was the first of two Mars 2MV-4 spacecraft to be launched, the other being the Mars 1 spacecraft which was launched eight days later.
The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 157 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches which occurred in 1968. The first crewed Apollo missions occurred in 1968. It was also the year in which Earth lifeforms first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Zond 5 mission to the Moon and the Zond 6 lunar mission which crashed upon return, and the year that humans first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Apollo 8 mission to the Moon.
1971 saw the last three known deaths of cosmonauts of the Soviet space program and the only deaths in space. Their mission was to man humanity's first space station. The experimental bay door failed to separate so the first crew failed to dock and second crew were killed on re-entry. 1971 also saw the launch of the first and only British satellite on top of a British rocket after that success the program was cancelled.
Kosmos 116, also known as DS-P1-Yu No.6 was a Soviet satellite which was used as a radar calibration target for tests of anti-ballistic missiles. It was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme.
Kosmos 123, also known as DS-P1-Yu No.5 was a Soviet satellite which was used as a radar calibration target for tests of anti-ballistic missiles. It was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme.
Kosmos 173, also known as DS-P1-Yu No.8 was a Soviet satellite which was used as a radar calibration target for tests of anti-ballistic missiles. It was a 325 kilograms (717 lb) spacecraft, was built by the Yuzhnoye, and launched in 1967 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme.
Kosmos 108, also known as DS-U1-G No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 355 kilograms (783 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Office and was used to study the effects of solar activity on the upper atmosphere.
Kosmos 196, also known as DS-U1-G No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1967 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 352 kilograms (776 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Office, and was used to study the effects of solar activity on the upper atmosphere.
Kosmos 93, also known as DS-U2-V No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1965 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 305 kilograms (672 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to conduct classified technology development experiments for the Soviet armed forces.
Kosmos 95, also known as DS-U2-V No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1965 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. The spacecraft weighed 325 kilograms (717 lb), and was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Office, and was used to conduct classified technology development experiments for the Soviet armed forces.
Kosmos 97, also known as DS-U2-M No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1965 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 267 kilograms (589 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and used to conduct tests involving atomic clocks.
Kosmos 145, also known as DS-U2-M No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1967 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 250 kilograms (550 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to conduct tests involving atomic clocks.
Kosmos 119, also known as DS-U2-I No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 250 kilograms (550 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to study the effects on radio waves of passing through the ionosphere.
Kosmos 142, also known as DS-U2-I No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1967 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 315 kilograms (694 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to study the effects on radio waves of passing through the ionosphere.
Kosmos 163, also known as DS-U2-MP No.2, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1967 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 357 kilograms (787 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Office, and was used to investigate micrometeoroids and cosmic dust particles in near-Earth space.
Kosmos 137, also known as DS-U2-D No.1, was a Soviet satellite which was launched in 1966 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 295 kilograms (650 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used to investigate charged particles in the Earth's magnetosphere.
Kosmos 166, also known as DS-U3-S No.1, was a satellite which was launched by the Soviet Union in 1967 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It was a 400 kilograms (880 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Office, and was used to conduct multispectral imaging of the Sun.
Explorer S-45A was a NASA satellite, which was lost in a launch failure in 1961. The satellite was intended to operate in a highly elliptical orbit, from which it was to have provided data on the shape of the ionosphere, and on the Earth's magnetic field. It was part of the Explorer program and would have been designated Explorer 12 had it reached orbit. It was the second of two identical satellites to be launched; the first, Explorer S-45, had also been lost in a launch failure, earlier in the year.
Kosmos 120 or Zenit-2 No.41 was a Soviet, first generation, low resolution, optical film-return reconnaissance satellite launched in 1966. A Zenit-2 spacecraft, Kosmos 120 was the thirty-ninth of eighty-one such satellites to be launched and had a mass of 4,730 kilograms (10,430 lb).
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