The Sfera or Geoid series were the first soviet geodetic satellites to improve the accuracy of maps. The development of the satellites started in 1965 at NPO-PM.
Vehicle
Kosmos-3M (11K65M)
Kosmos · -3M
Height
—
Diameter
—
LEO capacity
0 kg
Successful launches
423
Launch complex
132/2
Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s.
