NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 1970-064A
Cosmos 358 was a prototype Soviet navigation satellite. The shipboard installation consisted of the Tsunami system, composed of the Sirius radio station, the Signal antenna stabilisation platform, the Konus-4 omnidirectional antenna, and the Kvant-L antenna. First trial were conducted with a Project 680 vessel of the Black Sea fleet and showed a position error of 3 km, which was intolerable. A large part of the problem was with inaccuracies in the software models available for predicting the spacecraft ephemerides. Work by the KIK Centre resulted in a 10 to 30 times improvement in this accuracy, incorporating new information on the gravitational anomalies and geoid of the earth. Use of the revised software in 1969 showed an average error of 100 m over a five day period. Further improvement required a better mapping of the earth's gravitational anomalies. Testing of Tsiklon would continue through 1972 before an adequate operational system could be designed. The Parus/Tsiklon-B production system began flight tests in 1974.
Tsiklon used the basic KAUR-1 bus, consisting of a 2.035 m diameter cylindrical spacecraft body, with solar cells and radiators of the thermostatic temperature regulating system mounted on the exterior. Orientation was by a single-axis magneto-gravitational (gravity gradient boom) passive system. The hermetically sealed compartment had the equipment mounted in cruciform bays, with the chemical batteries protecting the radio and guidance equipment mounted at the centre.
Launch Date: 1970-08-20
Launch Vehicle: Kosmos-3
Launch Site: Plesetsk, U.S.S.R
Mass: 875 kg
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office