Kosmos 122

Kosmos 122 (Russian: Космос 122 meaning Cosmos 122), launched on 25 June 1966, Meteor No.5L, and was one of eleven weather satellites put into orbit between 1964 and 1969.

This launch was dubbed a Kosmos satellite mission because that was the designation given to prototype satellites by the Soviet Union. Kosmos 122 was the first announced Russian meteorological satellite and the last in a series of prototype meteorological satellites that included Kosmos 44 (28 August 1964), Kosmos 58 (26 February 1965), Kosmos 100 (17 December 1965), and Kosmos 118 (11 May 1966). It was the last meteorological satellite launched from the Baikonur site with a Vostok-2M launch vehicle at an orbital inclination of 65.0°, and it provided a transition from the prototype series to the Kosmos "Meteor" experimental weather satellite system. The deployment of two other satellites, Kosmos 144 (28 February 1967) and Kosmos 156 (27 April 1967), helped create the first Soviet weather forecasting network. Kosmos 122 and the other satellites had two cameras on board, one high resolution and one infrared in order to see the weather day or night. The Kosmos 122 was a successful mission and this specific satellite was used for four months. These satellites were used until 1969 when they were replaced with an upgraded model officially called Meteor.