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• Description of the complex research, organised among various institutes, necessary to develop the basic project documents for the plan and to conduct operations analysis and cost/technical trade studies;
• Planning documents for development of space systems in the five years under consideration and follow-on developments:
• Basic direction of military development for 10 to 15 years
• Program to develop military technology during ten years.
• Capital investment plan
• Specific five year plan for consideration of the Defence Ministry and Central Committee for inclusion in the national five year plan (subject to approval by the VPK Military-Industrial Commission).
• Five year plans of basic research

The Soviet Unified Space System consisted of:

• YeSKN - Unified System of Space Reconnaissance, operational 1977, including ICBM early warning systems
• MKRTs - Naval Space Reconnaissance and Targeting System, operational 1976
• YeSSS-2: Unified System of Satellite Communications, Second Generation
• GKKRS - Global Command and Control Space Relay System, operational 1985
• GLONASS - Global Navigation System, operational 1976.
• GMKS - Global Meteorological Space System, partially operational 1976
• TGKS - Topographic / Geodetic Space System, operational 1976

There was considerable controversy as the 'Young Turks' took on the conservatives. The controversy mirrored the 'star wars' arguments of the following decade in the United States - conventional space objectives versus exotic technologies and possibilities. Although preliminary research projects were begun, the weaponisation of these concepts did not begin until the mid-1980's.

At the conclusion of the deployment of these systems, the Soviet Union finally achieved military space system parity with the United States. But there were serious delays. By the end of the 11th Five Year Plan (1981-1985), of 23 priority systems requirements, 21 were from one to three years behind schedule. The two that had been completed were finished one year behind schedule. Only 60% of the planned flight trials launches had been completed. In particular delays in development of the new Zenit launch vehicle impacted all the other programs, increasing their costs. Tselina-2 had to be initially launched aboard Proton boosters, and Yantar-4K aboard Soyuz-U.

Second generation Launch Vehicles

A completely new family of dedicated space launch vehicles, not derived from military missiles, would be developed to support the spacecraft. 50 TsNII-KS began research in 1973 on Plan Poisk - a new modular family of launch vehicles. These were in four classes: Light - 3 tonnes payload; Medium, 10-12 tonnes; Heavy, 30 - 35 tonnes; and Super-heavy. The objectives:

• Maximum reliability
• Greatest realistically possible net payload for a given launch mass
• A wide functional range of all elements.

• Performance must not be achieved at the expense of reliability
• Universal upper stage for geosynchronous/planetary applications
• Non-toxic Lox/Kerosene propellants for cost and safety reasons
• Autonomous guidance systems that could be programmed for many trajectories. Flexible, able to handle failure modes and flight deviations
• Full tests of launch vehicles prior to service:
  • Mock-up tests to provide maximum realism for facilities check-out and staff training. These would include:
    • Mass-dimensional mock-up to test transportability, assembly and launch handling
    • Electrical mock-up to develop flight trials technical and launch positions
    • Fuelling mock-up to test tanking/detanking (at first with substitute fuel components).
  • Flight tests: First launches would be made with mock-up payloads, replicating mass and telemetry characteristics of real payloads, but with heavy instrumentation of the launch vehicle and television observation to allow analysis and corrective action of failures.

• All launch vehicles to be of two stages
• Launch vehicles of the basic classes would be built from common modules (first stages, engine sections, guidance systems)
• Launch vehicles must use non-toxic propellants
• Launch vehicles must make all possible manoeuvres to drop the first stage in the designated drop zone
• Digital guidance systems would be used that were flexible and able to handle all trajectories and emergency situations. The systems would be autonomous and not require updates or assistance from earth-based systems. They would be able to place the payload into a precise orbit, with orbital injection accuracy subject only to the accuracy limits of the launch vehicle propulsion system
• Preparation of the launch vehicle at the launch pad would require minimum time and personnel
• Ground support equipment would be multi-purpose and computer-based
• The highly reliable launch vehicles would use computer-based ground support equipment, automated check-out, self-diagnostic systems, automatic countdown and launch abort modes

During these studies the launch vehicle engineering bureaux responded with designs meeting the needs of the military: the UR-500MK from Chelomei, and the RLA-120/RLA-135/RLA-150 family from Glushko. Glushko's emphasis was on the super-heavy vehicle to support a continued lunar base project.

But the VPK Military-Industrial Commission and the national leadership rejected the approach favoured by the Ministry of Defence. Instead the instructions were to provide a precise Soviet equivalent to the American space shuttle system, notably in use of a Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Hydrogen core vehicle. The KRK principles were applied to this design. The resulting MKS launch vehicle consisted of the Buran, Energia, and Zenit-2 systems. But this system did not have the flexibility required by the Ministry of Defence. From this situation only the following military objectives could be salvaged:

• Fullfillment of the super heavy launcher requirement (Energia - use of the system without Buran gave a 100 tonne payload to low earth orbit - but the Ministry of Defence had identified no such payload yet)
• Fullfillment of the medium launcher requirement (Zenit-2) by using one of the lateral strap-on booster blocks of the Energia and a new upper stage.
• Demonstrate science and technology
• Obtain 'ecologically friendly' high energy Lox/LH2 propellant technology
• Long-term research on electronics and cryogenics

Because of all the new technology, development of Zenit/Energia went very slowly. Since the Ministry of Defence's requirements for new launch vehicles had not been met they had to rely on continued use of old classes of boosters. The existing Kosmos 11K65M, Tsyklon-3 and Proton 8K82K would be used for the light and heavy-class payloads.

Work on the Zenit launch complex began in 1978. The first pad was ready in December 1983 but due to delays in development of the first stage engines flight trails did not begin until 13 April 1985. In the spring of 1987 state commission that accepted the basic system for military use, but much work remained to be done. This included construction of a second launch complex at Baikonur, qualification of a third stage for geostationary payloads, and construction of a third launch complex at Plesetsk.

The same engine problems delayed test of the Energia/Buran vehicles. A comprehensive plan for use of Buran for military, scientific, and national economic purposes was approved on 11 July 1984, which by then was two years behind schedule. Buran itself was finally prepared for flight tests in 1986. This marked the end of a huge development effort using 200 experimental test stands, 34 full-scale test units, and 5 full-scale articles in over 6,500 separate qualification tests. The Polyus/Skif-DM experimental military payload was assembled for the first flight.

Second Generation Space Systems

The development of satellites taking advantage of the new design principles and technologies could not be delayed for development of second generation boosters. Therefore most space systems were to be developed in two phases: Phase 1 for launch using existing launch vehicles (Tsyklon-3, Soyuz 11A511U, or Proton 8K82K) and Phase 2 for launch by Zenit-2. Due to delays in development of the Zenit booster, very few of the Phase 2 systems reached flight stage before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

• YeSKN: Unified System of Space Surveillance, including the SPRN ICBM early warning system

  • Reconnaisance satellites: The Yantar-2K film-return satellite was not capable of providing strategic warning of attack. The ultimate solution was a purely electro-optical satellite constellation with multi-spectral capability and high resolution. The spacecraft would be designed to relay visual and infrared band images via a digital data link to the planned Potok-Luch GKRSS relay satellite system. The new satellite was required to have the resolution and spectral capability of the American KH-11 system. However it was clear that Soviet technology would not be able to develop a single satellite meeting this requirement in Phase 1. Therefore three variants of Yantar had to be developed in Phase 1 to match the KH-11:
    • Yantar-4K film return satellite for high resolution / multi-spectral reconnaissance. The initial Yantar-4K1 model with two film-return capsules was to be succeeded by the Zenit-launched Yantar-4K2 with 22 film return capsules and designed for missions of 120 to 180 days. Flight trials of the phase 1 system began in 1979 and were completed after eight flights in 1982, when the system was accepted into the military. Improvements from the Yantar-2K included a 17 day increase in mission endurance to 60 days, more film, and the capability to image targets 60 degrees left or right of the ground track. Due to excessive work at the Progress factory, production spacecraft were built from 1984 at Arsenal, Leningrad. The Yantar-4K2 design never flew and was abandoned after the break-up of the Soviet Union.
    • Orlets/Yantar-6K film return satellite for wide-band detail and survey reconnaissance. This underwent protracted development and did not enter service until the 1990's in the Orlets-1 and Orlets-2 versions. Orlets Phase 1 used 8 return capsules and a wide-band panoramic camera. Phase 2 would be equipped with 22 capsules and be launched by Zenit.
    • Yantar-6KS electro-optical satellite for detailed and operational reconnaissance. This version dispensed with the film return capsules and provided real-time transmission of imagery. Work began in 1975, but the plan ran into problems when the May 1977 draft project indicated weight growth beyond the payload capabilities of the Soyuz booster. So instead a less-capable spacecraft based on the Yantar-4K bus was designed. The first phase spacecraft, the Yantar-4KS1, would begin flight trials in 1979, with the more capable Yantar-4KS2, launched by Zenit, to begin flight trials in 1983.

      Development was slow because of the state of Soviet digital electronics technology. Flight trials of the Yantar 4KS1 finally began in December 1982, three years behind schedule. The system was accepted by the military in 1985 and six launches were conducted through 1986 of Phase 1 systems. Phase 2 was proceeding in parallel. A resolution of 1 June 1983 required it to be equivalent to the American KH-11. Trials began in 1985 and consisted of three launches. In the end it proved impossible for the Yantar-4KS2 to match the performance of the KH-11. All Yantar-4K systems went through evolutionary development from flight to flight.

    • ICBM Launch Detection System - The first generation Oko system, using a four-satellite constellation in Molniya orbits, could not provide 24 hour observation of all possible launch locations. Therefore development began of a replacement system began in 1980. It supplemented the Oko satellites with Prognoz SPRN satellites in geosynchronous orbits. In order to provide full time coverage of enemy missile launches nine operational satellites were required - four were needed to cover the US land mass alone. The system was accepted in to service in March 1985. Seven launches were made in 1984-1986, with 3 to 4 per year required thereafter to keep the system in operation. This work completed the Unified System of Space Surveillance (YeSKN).

    • ELINT Satellites: Based on the first generation Tselina ELINT, TsNII-KS at the beginning of the 1970's developed the specifications for an improved model with increased frequency range and an on-board method of determining the position of fixed transmitters. Work on the Tselina-2 was authorised in March 1973. The draft project was drawn up in the first quarter of 1974 and the Ministry of Defence approved the TTZ specification in May 1974. After a long review process the VPK issued the project plan for development of the system in December 1976. Replacing the separate earlier Army/Navy systems, it would use the Zenit launch vehicle and have increased mass and lifetime. Data received would be transmitted directly to ground stations via Potok geosynchronous communications satellites. This real-time data transmittal and other improvements would allow prompt identification and localisation of enemy land and sea units. The first flight trials system was completed in December 1980, but the Zenit rocket continued to experience delays. Finally a resolution was issued in September 1984 to launch the satellite on a Proton booster. Gherman Titov was in charge of the state commission for the launch. On the sixth launch the satellite was lost in a catastrophic launch disaster. Zenit-boosted flights finally began in 1985 and the system was accepted into service in 1987.

    • In the 1976-1982 five year plan the Almaz-T automated station with the Mech-K side-scan radar was to be deployed. Operations analysis had indicated that two automatic Almaz-T would be a necessary adjunct to the Yantar and Tselina satellites. TsSKB began work with six ministries on such a vehicle. In 1981 Almaz-T was ready for flight trials, but Ustinov mothballed it. He wanted TSKBM to concentrate on ICBM development. After Ustinov's death in 1984 the two trials satellites were finally launched, but as civilian satellites.

    • MKRTs Naval Reconnaissance System. Work on a second generation naval electronic reconnaissance system began in 1978. Specifications for the MKRTs system were developed co-operatively by Ministry of Defence, Soviet Navy, GUKOS, and TsNII Kometa (Savin) in 1978-1980. Following approval by the VPK Military Industrial Commission, the development was to have begun in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (1981-1985). The Pirs-1 system represented Phase 1, with the draft project completed in 1982. Pirs-2 was to start technical development in 1982, and provide double the capability to observe ships, and potentially submerged submarines. The radio and radiotechnical ELINT mission of the first generation US-P naval reconnaissance satellites would be handled by the interservice Tselina-2. Development of the draft project required three OKB's to co-operate due to the use of the new Zenit launch vehicle: NPO Energia, PO Arsenal, and TsKBM. The complete Ideogramma-Pirs system was to have been deployed during the Twelfth Five year plan (1986-1990). The nuclear-powered US-A system was abandoned in 1988 due to continued reliability problems and international incidents when the reactor cores of the satellites inadvertently crashed to the earth. The modernised US-PU universal satellite continued in use.

  • YeSSS-2: Unified System of Satellite Communications
    It was agreed in 1982 to develop an updated YeSSS-2 new generation Unified Satellite Communication System for both civilian and military general use. From 1983 onward this consisted of four Molniya-1T, four Molniya-3, and four modernised Raduga-1 geosynchronous satellites. These were capable of communication with mobile platforms.

    Development of a second generation Strela-3 system for centralised command and control of military units began in 1973. Flight trials began in 1985 and the system was accepted into military service in 1990. By 1992 Strela-3 replaced the Strela-1M and after 1994 the Strela-2M in the strategic communications role. Six Strelas were put into medium earth orbits with each launch.

    For civilian communications, the Ekran continued in use. In 1980 the satellites were first used to distribute the Soviet Channel 1 television channel program, followed in 1981 by Channel 2. From 1985 coverage of all five time zones was achieved, using 4000 receivers for the Ekran system in Siberia and the Far East. Channel 1 programs were relayed over the Ekran and Moskva systems, and Channel 2 programs over Moskva and Orbita.

    The Intersputnik international system was expanded to 14 socialist countries, for a total of 20, including Algeria, Angola, Spain, Italy, Iraq, USA, France, Yugoslavia, and Japan. The system used six transponders aboard two Gorizont satellites.

    Use of Inmarsat international maritime communication satellites began in 1975. By 1985 43 civilian users were operating in the Soviet Union. On 1 February 1982 Soviet use of MARECS-A (ECS/OTS) and Intelsat-5 satellites started. The USSR developed the shipboard receiver Volna-S, operated in conjunction with central relay stations at Odessa and Nakhodka. By the end of 1985 over 3500 ships had receivers for Inmarsat and Cosmos-SARSAT. Three Soviet Nadezhda and one US satellite made up the SARSAT emergency distress receiver network.

  • GKKRS: Global Command and Data Relay System
    A new-generation global command and control system (GKKRS) was to be developed according to the decree of 17 February 1976. This enabled geosynchronous relay of high-rate digital data from both fixed ground stations and mobile platforms (orbiting satellites, aircraft, naval and army units). The first half of the 1980's saw development and flight test of the two satellites used in the GKKRS. At first these relay systems were not fully utilised due to delays in development and deployment of the second generation satellites that would work with them. But they were the key to the other unified systems. The GKKRS consisted of:
    • The Potok spacecraft, which handled digital data communications between fixed points and the Yantar-4KS1 electro-optical reconnaissance satellite and Tselina-2 ELINT satellite. Flight tests began in 1982. Potok was the first communications spacecraft built by the Lavochkin design bureau. The same bus was later used for the Kupon civilian satellite.

    • Luch spacecraft, which provided communications service to the Mir space station, Buran space shuttle, Soyuz-TM spacecraft, and mobile fleet communications for the Soviet Navy.

    • YeKNS Unified Space Navigation System
      • GLONASS: Global Navigation Satellite System: At the end of the 1960's the military identified a need for a Satellite Radio Navigation System (SRNS) for use in precision guidance of the planned new generation of ballistic missiles. The existing Tsiklon / Tsikada satellite navigation system could not be used for this purpose. In 1968 to 1969 research institutes of the Ministry of Defence, Academy of Sciences, and Soviet Navy worked together to establish a single solution for air, land, sea, and space forces. In December 1976 a decree was issued by the Soviet state for establishment of the YeKNS/GLONASS Global Navigation Satellite System. The schedule was revised in August 1979 and July 1981. The draft project was completed in 1977-1978. A decree of 29 August 1979 scheduled flight trials of 4 to 6 prototypes in 1981, preliminary acceptance of a 10-12 satellite constellation by 1984, and operation of the complete 24 satellite system by the end of 1987. Actual flight trials began in October 1982, followed by a total of 22 spacecraft by the end of 1987, and 31 by the end of 1989.

      • The older Parus / Tsikada navigation system continued in service in parallel. Some of these satellites were upgraded with international emergency distress signal detectors (Nadezhda).

    • GMKS: Global Hydrological and Meteorological Space Monitoring System
      Delays in Meteor-2 development led to a resolution of 4 June 1970 to develop a parallel design for the hydrology office alone. This was not put into production. In its place a resolution of 16 December 1972 ordered development of a second generation system. This used the Planeta-S sensor package in the non-co-orbital Meteor-3 system plus a geostationary system Elektro, which was to begin tests in 1982. Elektro suffered numerous delays due to equipment and software problems, and went through two heads of development. However the effort did not receive adequate funding until 1983, by which time it was considered a third generation system.

      A series of ambitious ocean satellites were introduced, perhaps with the intention of solving the problem of detection of submerged enemy ballistic missile submarines. The Okean-E and Okean-OE were experimental satellites used to develop sensors for the Okean-O satellite being developed by KB Yuzhnoye. They surveyed the ocean surface and arctic ice pack using a variety of sensors. Salyut 7 conducted a joint sensor program with Okean-OE/Cosmos 1500. The Okean-OE satellites also received data from a world-wide network of ocean buoys that had been deployed from the end of the 1960's. Receivers for these buoys were carried on Kosmos 243, Meteor, Soyuz, Salyut, Kosmos 1076, Kosmos 1151, Intercosmos 20. The Okean-O1, sized for launch by the Tsyklon, began flights in 1986. The Phase 2, Zenit-launched Okean-O was delayed for a long time but finally reached orbit in 1999.

    • TGKS: Topographic / Geodesic Space System
      Following cancellation of the Yantar-1KF cartographic satellite the decision was taken to develop the Yantar-1KFT, based on the Yantar-2K bus. Development of this replacement satellite was authorised in a resolution of 3 February 1977. Camera development was difficult, and flight trials did not begin until 1981. The system was finally accepted into service in 1987. Yantar-1KFT imagery was combined with topographic information from the Zenit-4MT to build up high precision military maps.

      The Geo-IK second generation geodetic satellite system began development in 1977. Its Musson satellite was used to define a unified world geodetic data set and geocentric co-ordinate system, characterise the shape of the earth, and precisely fix the location of NIP tracking stations. Flight trials began in 1980, and the system was accepted into service in 1986. The system used the Tsiklon-3 launcher and the entire system, including ground elements, was known as Geo-IK.

      Two Etalon geodetic satellites were also flown in the 19,100 km GLONASS orbit to fully characterise the gravitational field at the planned altitude and inclination.

    National Prestige Projects

    • Mir Space Station: The design of Mir, an improved model of the Salyut DOS-17K space station, was authorised as Phase 1 of the second generation of Soviet space systems in the 17 February 1976 decree. At that time it was planned that the two stations (DOS-7 and DOS-8) would be equipped with two docking ports at either end and an additional two ports at the sides of the forward small diameter compartment. By the time of the draft project in August 1978 this had evolved to the final Mir configuration of one aft port and five ports in a spherical compartment at the forward end of the station. Mir was to have had only a three to five year life, but ended up in service into the next century.

      A resolution of 6 February 1979 consolidated Chelomei's manned Almaz-2 military space station and the Mir civilian program. TKS-derived modules (Kvant-2, Kristall, Spektr, Priroda) were selected over NPO Energia's 37K-Mir design. However 37KB and NPG modules continued in development for use with Buran. To support Mir modernised Soyuz TM ferry and Progress M resupply spacecraft were developed.

    • Manned Planetary Exploration: Attempts by Glushko to interest the Soviet leadership in a renewed lunar program were unsuccessful. The Energia launch vehicle would have been used for launch of a lunar base using an array of new spacecraft (LK Energia, LOK Energia, Lunokhod LEK, LZhM, LZM). From 1978 the Energia was also studied for boost of the Mars 1986 manned Mars expedition. However there was no political support for such an 'adventure' in the absence of competing American programs.

    • Scientific Satellites
      • Planetary Probes: The Soviet Union could not achieve the spacecraft component reliability required to match the decade-long explorations of outer planets undertaken by the Americans. A scaled-down program of probes to Mars, Venus, and Halley's comet continued using the 4MV spacecraft bus. A new design 5MV was developed but flew only a few times with poor results. This include the 2 Vega spacecraft launched on 15/21 December 1984

      • The Prognoz-M was developed for the international Interbol project to further measure solar activity, solar wind, and the interface of the earth's magnetosphere with the solar wind. Its flight was delayed until the 1990's.

      • A decree of 5 May 1977 authorised development of three earth resource satellites. The Ministry of Defence was tasked with developing these systems, even though they did not contribute directly to any military mission. Despite this political decision, the orders were followed. These new Resurs satellites provided continuous photo surveillance for cartographic and economic surveys, development of technical maps, and earth resource surveys. It was claimed that they paid back their cost by a factor of 4 to 5 times. Resurs-F flight trials began in 1979 and it was put into service in 1981. The spacecraft was based on the Fram design. In 1981-1983 it surveyed 83% of Soviet territory in multispectral colour imaging, 97% of the territory in monochrome. In the process it made new discoveries of oil and gas fields. The family was extended during the 1980's to include the Resurs F1-17F41 / Resurs F1-14F40 / Resurs F1-14F43 / Resurs F1M / Resurs F2 versions.

      • The Astron X-Ray Astronomy Satellite was developed at Lavochkin by Kovtunenko. The sensor payload was developed by A B Serveniy of the Crimean Observatory of the Academy of Sciences and included an ultraviolet telescope and Roentgen X-ray detector. The satellite was placed in a high elliptical orbit in March 1983 and operated for five years. During that time it detected 15 pulsars and compact relativistic objects in binary star systems. Tests with the telescope also showed it would be useful in military reconnaissance systems.

      • The Oreol 3 collaborative French/Soviet satellite used the Yuzhnoye AUOS bus and carried magnetosphere and ionosphere experiments.

      • Two Efir satellites were developed according to a May 1982 VPK Resolution and launched in 1984. The spacecraft was derived from the Zenit reconnaissance satellite and conducted research on very high energy cosmic rays.

      • The IK-B-1300 Interkosmos-Bulgaria-1300 flew once in August 1981. It was built by KB Yuzhnoye to study the troposphere. A Meteor-2 satellite bus was used together with Bulgarian instruments. The 1300 designation celebrated the 1300th anniversary of Bulgaria.

      • Launch of international collaborative Bion biological missions continued through 1996.

      • The Indian Bhaskara satellites were developed under a joint project. They conducted research on use of space sounding sensors and tested a range of other technical equipment.

    Continued in Third Generation Soviet Space Systems.

    Preceding chapter: Mature First Generation Soviet Space Systems.