Kosmos 222
# Kosmos 222

Kosmos 222 (Russian: Космос 222 meaning Cosmos 222), known before launch as DS-P1-Yu No.12, 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 1968 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme. It had a mass of 325 kilograms (717 lb).

Kosmos 222 was launched from Site 133/3 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, atop a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket. The launch occurred on 30 May 1968 at 20:29:49 GMT, and resulted in Kosmos 222's successful deployment into low Earth orbit. Upon reaching orbit, it was assigned its Kosmos designation, and received the International Designator 1968-044A.

Kosmos 222 was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 285 kilometres (177 mi), an apogee of 488 kilometres (303 mi), an inclination of 71.0°, and an orbital period of 92.3 minutes. It remained in orbit until it decayed and reentered the atmosphere on 11 October 1968. It was the fourteenth of seventy nine DS-P1-Yu satellites to be launched, and the thirteenth of seventy two to successfully reach orbit.

