Yantar - 2K Yantar - 2K ( meaning amber ) was a type of Soviet reconnaissance satellite which supplemented and eventually replaced the Zenit spacecraft . It was the first satellite of the Yantar series and was managed by the Soviet military intelligence agency , the GRU . These satellites were in orbit for 30 days and photographed sites of interest using a film camera . Yantar - 2K was proposed in 1967 and had its first test launch in May 1974 . It was in military service from 1978 to 1983 and was given the name Feniks ( ) , meaning phoenix . Equipment . Yantar differed from Zenit in that it had to stay in orbit for a month unlike Zenit ' s 8 – 14 days . It also had 2 film return capsules , something it had in common with the US KH - 7 GAMBIT reconnaissance satellite . Yantar had three parts : the aggregate / equipment module ( AO - Agregatnyy Otsek ) , the instrument module ( PO - Pribornnyy Otsek ) and the special equipment module / special apparatus module ( OSA - otsek spetsialnoy apparatury ) . The special equipment module was the part that returned to earth at the end of the mission , and contained the Zhemchug - 4 ( pearl ) camera . Each section was shaped like a truncated cone which gave the craft a conical shape . The craft was 6 . 3m long ( although one source says 8 . 5m ) with a maximum diameter of 2 . 7m . It weighed 6 . 6 tonnes . The aggregate module was 1 . 2m long and 2 . 7m diameter and contained the propulsion unit . It used UDMH fuel with an NO oxidiser . Attached to it were two solar arrays , each six metres long with four panels . The instrument module was 1m long and 2 . 4m diameter . It contained most of the equipment including Kvadrat gyroscopes , telemetry systems and attitude control . It was covered in thermal radiator panels . The special equipment module was 3 . 3m long with a diameter of 2 . 3m . A shade 2 . 5m long with a diameter of 0 . 9m was attached to the front . The module contained the Zhemchug - 4 camera , the Salyut - 3M computer , film and film handling systems . It also acted as the reentry vehicle . Attached to it were two film return capsules ( SpK Spuskayemaya Kapsula ) which were 0 . 8m diameter spheres . They contained retro rocket s and could land on the ground or on water . During a thirty day mission the film return capsules deorbited on the tenth and eighteenth days with the final film returning with the re - entry vehicle . Space historian Peter Gorin estimates that the camera lens had a diameter of 600mm and a focal length of approximately 3000mm to 4000mm . This could give a resolution of 0 . 5m . The lens was retractable and had a cover which only opened when the camera was taking photographs . The film type is unknown but might be the same as in the Zenit , which had 300mm x 300mm frames . The camera was developed by the Krasnogorsk Optical - Mechanical Plant ( KMZ ) . The satellite de - orbited by retracting the lens into the special equipment module . The other two modules and the lens shade separated and burnt up in the atmosphere . The reentry vehicle then landed on the ground . The computer and camera were designed to be reusable . The craft contained a self - destruct mechanism . Operation . The first test launch of a Yantar - 2K was on 23 May 1974 which ended in launch failure and the loss of the satellite . The second flight , on 13 December 1974 , was successful and Kosmos 697 landed after 12 days . After seven test launches the satellite was taken into service with the first one on 5 August 1978 . There were thirty launches in total , including test launches , with the last one on 28 June 1983 . Yantar - 2K was replaced by the similar Yantar - 4K1 , named Oktan . It had its first test launch on 27 April 1979 and had its first operational flight in 1982 .