| Kosmos 60 | |
| Mission Type: | Lunar lander |
| Operator: | Soviet space program |
| Cospar Id: | 1965-018A |
| Satcat: | 1246 |
| Spacecraft Type: | Ye-6 |
| Manufacturer: | OKB-1 |
| Launch Mass: | 6530 kg[1] |
| Dry Mass: | 1470 kg[2] |
| Launch Date: | 12 March 1965 09:25:31 GMT |
| Launch Rocket: | Molniya 8K78 |
| Launch Site: | Baikonur 1/5 |
| Launch Contractor: | OKB-1 |
| Disposal Type: | Launch failure |
| Decay Date: | 17 March 1965 |
| Orbit Epoch: | 12 March 1965 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric[3] |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 195 km |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 248 km |
| Orbit Inclination: | 64.7° |
| Orbit Period: | 89.1 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Programme: | Luna programme |
| Previous Mission: | Luna 1964B |
| Next Mission: | Luna 1965A |
| Programme2: | Kosmos (satellites) |
| Previous Mission2: | Kosmos 59 |
| Next Mission2: | Kosmos 61 |
Kosmos 60 (ru|Космос 60 meaning Cosmos 60) was an E-6 No.9 probe (Ye-6 series), launched by the Soviet Union. It was the sixth attempt at a lunar soft-landing mission, with a design similar to that of Luna 4.
Kosmos 60 was launched by a Molniya 8K78 rocket, serial number G15000-24, flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 09:25:31 GMT. The spacecraft achieved a low Earth orbit, with a perigee of 195km (121miles), an apogee of 248km (154miles), an inclination of 64.7°, and an orbital period of 89.1 minutes, but failed to leave orbit for its journey to the Moon due to a failure when the Blok L upper stage failed to fire for the trans-lunar injection burn. Instead, the spacecraft remained stranded in Earth orbit. A later investigation indicated that there might have been a short circuit in the electric converter within the control system of the spacecraft (which also controlled the Blok L stage) preventing engine ignition. It had an on-orbit mass of 1470kg (3,240lb). The satellite reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 17 March 1965.
Kosmos 60 carried two instruments: an imaging system and the SBM-10 radiation detector.[2]