Kosmos 482
Kosmos 482 — Venera 8's twin, launched four days after it (31 March 1972). Its engine burn toward Venus fell short, stranding it in an elongated Earth orbit. Its descent capsule, built to survive Venus, stayed up for 53 years before coming down on 10 May 2025. (Its orbit is shown representatively.)
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- Lavochkin (USSR)
- Launched
- March 31, 1972
- Status
- Lost
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 0.998 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 6,064,075 km
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.278 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Kosmos 482 was meant to follow Venera 8 to Venus. Launched on 31 March 1972, four days after its twin, it reached a parking orbit, but the engine burn that should have sent it to Venus did not give enough speed. It was left in an elongated orbit of about 210 by 9,800 km, and — like every Soviet craft that stayed in Earth orbit — was named Kosmos. Its other pieces had come down by 1981, but its descent capsule — a sphere built to survive the atmosphere and surface of Venus — stayed in orbit for 53 years. It re-entered on 10 May 2025. The two agencies that reported the moment gave slightly different times: ESA about 06:16 UTC, and Roscosmos 06:24 UTC. Its orbit is shown on the map as it was in 1972; it shrank slowly over the decades that followed.
- 1972Launch toward VenusLaunch
Venera 8's twin reaches a parking orbit.
- 1972Stranded in Earth orbitMission end
The burn toward Venus falls short, leaving it in a 210 × 9,800 km orbit.
After 53 years in orbit, the capsule built for Venus re-enters Earth's atmosphere.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image