Kosmos 31

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Kosmos 31, also known as DS-MT No.2, was a Soviet technology demonstration satellite launched in 1964 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik program. Its main aim was to test an electric gyrodyne orientation system, while carrying a small scientific package to study cosmic rays. The 325 kg spacecraft was built by Yuzhnoye. It was launched from Kapustin Yar (Mayak-2) aboard a Kosmos-2I 63S1 rocket on June 6, 1964. It reached a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 222 km, an apogee of 492 km, an inclination of 49 degrees, and a period of 91.6 minutes. Kosmos 31 operated for about 136 days before decaying from orbit on October 20, 1964. It was the second of three DS-MT satellites; the first, DS-MT No.1, failed in 1963, and the third, Kosmos 51, launched in December 1964.