1962-06-30 USSR Kosmos 6

A cover commemorating the launch of Kosmos 6, postmarked in Stanislav with a hand cancel on July 2, 1962, two days after the spacecraft’s launch.

Kosmos 6, also designated DS-P1 No. 1 and sometimes referred to in Western sources as Sputnik 16, was a Soviet experimental satellite launched on June 30, 1962. It was the sixth spacecraft to receive the Kosmos designation and the first spacecraft in the DS-P1 series, which was developed primarily for radar calibration and space-surveillance applications. The spacecraft was developed by OKB-586 (Yuzhnoye) as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik (DS) program. With a mass of approximately 355 kg, Kosmos 6 was significantly larger than the earlier DS-2 spacecraft. It was also the first Yuzhnoye satellite to use solar cells for electrical power.

Unlike Kosmos 2, 3, and 5, which were primarily scientific and technology missions, Kosmos 6 had an important military technology objective. The DS-P1 satellites were designed to provide known radar targets for calibrating ground-based space-surveillance and early-warning radar systems. This work was associated with the Soviet development of systems for tracking objects in space and supporting anti-ballistic missile defense. Kosmos 6 ceased transmitting after only a short operational period, but the spacecraft remained in orbit until August 8, 1962, when it reentered Earth's atmosphere.