Cosmos 1

Cosmos 1
An artist's rendering of Cosmos 1 orbiting the Earth
Mission typeTechnology demonstration[1]
OperatorThe Planetary Society
Mission durationFailed to orbit
30 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerThe Planetary Society
Launch mass100 kg (220 lb)
Dimensions30 m (98 ft) in diameter
Start of mission
Launch date21 June 2005, 19:46:09 UTC
RocketVolna
Launch siteK-496 Borisoglebsk, Barents Sea
ContractorMakeyev Rocket Design Bureau
End of mission
DestroyedFailed to orbit
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit (planned)
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Altitude800 km (500 mi)
Inclination80.00°

Cosmos 1 was a project by Cosmos Studios and The Planetary Society to test a solar sail in space. As part of the project, an uncrewed solar-sail spacecraft named Cosmos 1 was launched into space at 19:46:09 UTC (15:46:09 EDT) on 21 June 2005 from the submarine Borisoglebsk in the Barents Sea. However, a rocket failure prevented the spacecraft from reaching its intended orbit.[2] Once in orbit, the spacecraft was supposed to deploy a large sail, upon which photons from the Sun would push, thereby increasing the spacecraft's velocity (the contributions from the solar wind are similar, but of much smaller magnitude).

Had the mission been successful, it would have been the first ever orbital use of a solar sail to speed up a spacecraft, as well as the first space mission by a space advocacy group. The project budget was US$4 million. The Planetary Society planned to raise another US$4 million for Cosmos 2, a reimplementation of the experiment provisionally to be launched on a Soyuz resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Discovery Channel was an early investor.[3] However, advances in technology and the greater availability of lower-mass piggyback slots on more launch vehicles led to a redesign similar to NanoSail-D, called LightSail-1, announced in November 2009.[4]

  1. ^ "Private Mission - Cosmos 1". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Russians say solar-sail vehicle was lost". NBC News. Associated Press. 21 June 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  3. ^ Cosmos 2 Archived 2010-04-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "LightSail Release". The Planetary Society. 9 November 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2010.