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| A cover commemorating the launch of Kosmos 3, postmarked in Stanislav with a hand cancel on April 24, 1962. |
Kosmos 3, also designated 2MS No. 1 and sometimes referred to in Western sources as Sputnik 13, was a Soviet scientific research and technology-demonstration satellite launched on April 24, 1962. It was the third spacecraft to receive the Kosmos designation and the first spacecraft of the 2MS series, following Kosmos 2, the first 1MS spacecraft. The 2MS spacecraft were designed as small, solar-powered research satellites to test systems and equipment for future missions while investigating the space environment, particularly cosmic rays and radiation.
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| A Kosmos 3 First Day Cover from "KNIGA", postmarked with a black Moscow special hand cancel dated April 24, 1962. |
Kosmos 3 carried scientific instruments and a multichannel telemetry system with onboard memory, allowing measurements and other data to be recorded and transmitted back to Earth. Its investigations contributed to Soviet studies of the upper atmosphere, Earth, cosmic radiation, and the near-Earth space environment, while the spacecraft itself helped demonstrate technologies for later scientific satellites. The mission lasted approximately 176 days. Kosmos 3 eventually reentered Earth's atmosphere on October 17, 1962.
