Cosmos - 321

The Kosmos-321 mission main objectives were the same as for Kosmos-49 but also included some specific tasks, such as confirming the possibility of using magnetometers with optical pumping as a service system for nuclear test explosion control in outer space and a series of atmospheric experiments. The mission experimental program was developed by IZMIRAN and the Space Research Institute of the Russian
Academy of Sciences. Kosmos-321 operated from 20 January to 13 March 1970, 52 days in total. It performed 823 orbits around the Earth and made over 600 000 measurements covering 94 % of the Earth’s surface. It had an orbit with an inclination of 71◦, nodal period of 92 min, apogee of 507 km,
and perigee of 280 km. During the mission the apogee decreased from approximately 500 to approximately 300 km. In the available data the apogee runs from 470 to 315 km.