1970–1985: Solar-System Firsts and Scientific Reach
Cos-B
First ESA space mission; provided the first comprehensive gamma-ray map of the Milky Way.
Era 2 of 6 · full record in the catalog
- Launch
- 9 Aug 1975
- Lead / partner
- ESA
- Target
- Earth orbit
- Category
- Gamma-ray astronomy
- Status
- Success
- Vehicle
- Delta 2913
- Mass
- 2,775 kg
- Orbit / trajectory
- Geocentric orbit
- Duration
- 2.5 years (planned) (achieved)
Why it happened
Cos-B flew during 1970–1985: Solar-System Firsts and Scientific Reach, as part of ESA's work toward earth orbit. A sourced write-up of the context around this mission is still on the editorial queue; nothing here is invented to fill the gap.
The mission
The full narrative of this mission is pending research and writing. What is recorded so far: First ESA space mission; provided the first comprehensive gamma-ray map of the Milky Way.
Results
First ESA space mission; provided the first comprehensive gamma-ray map of the Milky Way.
Related missions
Sources & image credits
- European Space Agency, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · license: cc-by-sa-3.0-igo (source, checked 2026-08-24)
- Mission record: AntarikshPedia canonical dataset (data-sources/missions_timeline.md)
- Specifications reference: NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog
