Kosmos 214 (Russian: Космос 214 meaning Cosmos 214) or Zenit-4 No.45 was a Soviet, optical film-return reconnaissance satellite launched in 1968. A Zenit-4 satellite, Kosmos 214 was the fortieth of seventy-six such spacecraft to be launched.
== Spacecraft == Kosmos 18 was a Zenit-4 satellite, a second generation, high-resolution, reconnaissance satellite derived from the Vostok spacecraft used for crewed flights, the satellites were developed by OKB-1. Kosmos 214 had a mass of 6,300 kilograms (13,900 lb), and carried one camera of 3000 mm focal length as well as a 200 mm camera. The focal length of the main camera was greater than the diameter of the capsule so the camera made use of a mirror to fold the light path. The ground resolution is not publicly known but it is believed to have been 1–2 m.
== Launch == Kosmos 214 was launched by the Voskhod 11A57 rocket, serial number V15001-12, flying from Site 41/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 10:33:00 GMT on 18 April 1968, and following its successful arrival in orbit the spacecraft received its Kosmos designation, along with the International Designator 1968-032A and the Satellite Catalog Number 03203.
== Mission == Kosmos 214 was operated in a low Earth orbit, at an epoch of 18 April 1968, it had a perigee of 200 kilometres (120 mi), an apogee of 373 kilometres (232 mi), an inclination of 81.4°, and an orbital period of 90.3 minutes. After eight days in orbit, Kosmos 214 was deorbited, with its return capsule descending under parachute and landing at 09:36 GMT on 26 April 1968, and recovered by the Soviet forces in the steppe in Kazakhstan.
See also
1968 in spaceflight