Kosmos 242 (Russian: Космос 242 meaning Cosmos 242), also known as DS-P1-I No.4 was a satellite which was used as a radar target for anti-ballistic missile tests.

It was launched by the Soviet Union in 1968 as part of the Dnepropetrovsk Sputnik programme.

[1] It was launched aboard a Kosmos-2I 63SM rocket,[2] from Site 133/1 at Plesetsk.

[3] Kosmos 242 was placed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 272 kilometres (169 mi), an apogee of 406 kilometres (252 mi), 71 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.3 minutes.

[4] Kosmos 242 was the fourth of nineteen DS-P1-I satellites to be launched.