Goals: Also known as Sputnik 20, this was a Venera-type spacecraft intended to impact Venus.
Accomplishments: None. The rocket that was to propel the spacecraft from Earth orbit to Venus shut off after 45 seconds (instead of the planned 240 seconds), leaving it marooned like the preceding year's Sputnik 7. The spacecraft orbited Earth for 3 days, then re-entered the atmosphere.
This was one of three Venus spacecraft the Soviet Union prepared for a 1962 launch window.