At the beginning of January 2019, Russia planned to take out of orbit its military satellite Kosmos-2430, which was part of the Oko missile attack warning system (SPRN), the system has been operating since 1982. This was first reported by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). After that, this event became one of the most discussed topics in the Russian media. This was facilitated by the fact that footage of the fall of the satellite got into the television broadcast of a cricket match in New Zealand, and then spread around the world.
According to NORAD, on January 5, a Russian-made military satellite "Cosmos-2430" burned down in the Earth's atmosphere. After publications in the media, the situation was officially commented on by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The command of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation noted that the Russian military satellite Kosmos-2430, excluded from the orbital group in 2012, was deorbited as planned on the morning of January 5 (at 9:48 Moscow time) and burned out over the Atlantic Ocean … It is reported that the satellite completely burned up in the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of about 100 kilometers. The Russian Aerospace Forces on duty controlled the descent of the vehicle from orbit in all parts of its trajectory, the Russian Defense Ministry noted.
The military satellite "Kosmos-2430" was launched into orbit in 2007 and worked until 2012, after which it was removed from the orbital group of the Russian Federation, the representatives of the military department specified. This satellite was part of the Oko (UK-KS) satellite system for detecting ICBM launches from the continental United States, which was in operation from 1982 to 2014. This system was part of the space echelon of the early warning system - a missile attack warning system. This system included the first generation satellites US-K in highly elliptical orbits and US-KS in geostationary orbit. Satellites located in a geostationary orbit had a significant advantage - such spacecraft did not change their position relative to the planet and could provide constant support to a constellation of satellites in highly elliptical orbits. At the beginning of 2008, the constellation consisted of only three satellites, one 71X6 Kosmos-2379 spacecraft in geostationary orbit and two spacecraft 73D6 Kosmos-2422 and Kosmos-2430 in highly elliptical orbits.
Satellite of the Oko-1 system
Since February 1991, our country has been deploying the Oko-1 system in parallel from the second generation 71X6 satellites located in geostationary orbit. The satellites of the second generation 71X6 US-KMO (universal control system of seas and oceans), in contrast to the satellites of the first generation of the Oko system, also made it possible to register the launches of ballistic missiles from submarines made from the sea surface. For this, the spacecraft received an infrared telescope with a mirror with a diameter of one meter and a solar protective screen measuring 4.5 meters. The complete constellation of satellites was supposed to include up to 7 satellites located in geostationary orbits, and about 4 satellites in high elliptical orbits. All satellites of this system had the ability to detect ballistic missile launches against the background of the earth's surface and cloud cover.
The first spacecraft of the new Oko-1 system was launched on February 14, 1991. In total, 8 US-KMO satellites were launched, thus, the constellation of satellites was never deployed to the planned size. In 1996, the Oko-1 system with US-KMO spacecraft in geostationary orbit was officially put into service. The system functioned from 1996 to 2014. A distinctive feature of the second generation satellites 71X6 US-KMO was the use of vertical observation of the launch of ballistic missiles against the background of the earth's surface, which made it possible to record not only the very fact of missile launch, but also to determine the azimuth of their flight. The Russian Ministry of Defense lost the last satellite of the Oko-1 system in April 2014; due to malfunctions, the satellite operated in orbit for only two years out of the planned 5-7 years of operation. After the decommissioning of the last satellite, it turned out that the Russian Federation was left without working satellites of the missile attack warning system for about a year, until in 2015 the first satellite of the new Unified Space System (CES), designated "Tundra", was launched.
The "Eye" systems that Russia inherited from Soviet times were criticized by the Ministry of Defense back in 2005. General Oleg Gromov, who at that time held the post of Deputy Commander of the Space Forces for Armaments, ranked 71X6 geostationary satellites and 73D6 highly elliptical satellites as "hopelessly outdated" spacecraft. The military had serious complaints about the Oko system. The thing was that even with the full deployment of the system, the 71X6 satellites were only able to detect the very fact of launching a ballistic missile from enemy territory, but they could not determine the parameters of its ballistic trajectory, the Kommersant newspaper wrote back in 2014
Antenna elements for the Voronezh-M meter radar, photo: militaryrussia.ru
In other words, after the signal was issued to launch an enemy ballistic missile, ground-based radar stations were connected to work, and until the ICBM was in their field of vision, it was impossible to track the flight of the enemy missile. The new Tundra spacecraft (product 14F142) remove the indicated problem from the agenda. According to Kommersant's information, the new Russian satellites are likely to indicate the area of destruction not only by ballistic missiles, but also by other types of enemy missiles, including those launched from submarines. At the same time, a combat control system will be placed on the Tundra spacecraft, so that, if necessary, it will be possible to transmit a signal through the spacecraft to retaliate against the enemy.
It is worth noting that the most famous case in Soviet history is associated with the operation of the Oko system, when an error in the system could provoke the Third World War. On September 26, 1983, the system issued a false missile attack warning. The alarm was declared false by the decision of Lieutenant Colonel S. E. Petrov, who at that time was the operational duty officer of the command post "Serpukhov-15", located about 100 kilometers from Moscow. It was here that the Central Command Center, the Central Command Post of the US-KS "Oko" missile attack warning system, was located, and the early warning system satellites were also controlled from here.
In an interview with the newspaper Vzglyad, a military expert and editor of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Alexei Leonkov noted that the Oko system was once created to warn about ICBM launches from American territory, and during the Cold War - from Europe. The main function of the system was to record the launches of ICBMs, to which the domestic Strategic Missile Forces were supposed to react. This system functioned within the framework of the retaliatory strike doctrine. Currently, a new system has been created in Russia, which has received the designation EKS. In September 2014, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu emphasized that the development of this system is "one of the key areas for the development of forces and means of nuclear deterrence." It is worth noting that the US is currently working on the same issue. The new American space system is called SBIRS (Space-Based Infrared System). It should replace the outdated DSP (Defense Support Program) system. It is known that at least four highly elliptical and six geostationary satellites should be deployed as part of the American system.
Launch of the second EKS Tundra satellite into orbit by the Soyuz-2.1b rocket, frame from the video of the RF Ministry of Defense
As Aleksey Leonkov noted in a conversation with the journalists of the Vzglyad newspaper, the main feature of the new Russian Unified Space System, which will consist of Tundra spacecraft, is a different doctrine. The system will operate according to the counter-strike doctrine. The new Russian satellites "Tundra" are able to track the launches of ballistic missiles from the earth and water surfaces. "In addition to the fact that the new satellites track such launches, they also form an algorithm that allows you to determine exactly where the detected missiles can hit, and also generate the necessary data for a retaliatory strike," Leonkov said.
It is known that the first satellite of the new CEN system was supposed to be launched into orbit in the fourth quarter of 2014, but as a result, the launch was postponed and took place only at the end of 2015. In addition, it was previously planned that the system will be fully deployed by 2020, when it will include 10 satellites. Later, these dates were shifted to at least 2022. According to information from open sources, currently there are only two satellites in orbit - Kosmos-2510 (November 2015) and Kosmos-2518 (May 2017), both satellites are in a highly elliptical orbit. As noted by Russian military experts, the number of satellites launched into orbit may be more than two, since the Russian Defense Ministry is reluctant to share information about which satellites are being launched into orbit.
According to the military observer of the TASS agency, retired colonel Viktor Litovkin, the missile attack warning system consists of several echelons. For example, there are ground-based missile warning stations along the perimeter of the country. "There is a ground control system for outer space, there are optical systems, these three components together ensure the operation of the warning system," Litovkin said in an interview with the newspaper "Vzglyad". The TASS expert is confident that the early warning system is currently fully operational.
According to Alexei Leonkov, the functions of warning about a missile attack today are performed not only by space vehicles, but also by over-the-horizon radar detection stations of the Daryal, Dnepr and Voronezh types. These stations take ICBMs for escort. However, such over-the-horizon radars cannot be a full-fledged replacement for satellites, since they are able to detect targets only at a distance of about 3700 km (the Voronezh-M and Voronezh-SM stations can detect targets at a distance of up to 6000 km). The maximum detection range is provided only at very high altitudes,”the expert noted.
An example of satellite movement in orbit "Tundra"
It is worth noting that information about modern satellites of the EKS "Tundra" system (product 14F112) is classified, so there is little information about the new Russian system in the public domain. It is known that the spacecraft of the United Space System are replacing the Oko and Oko-1 systems, the first launch of the new satellite took place on November 17, 2015. Most likely, the name "Tundra" is derived from the name of the orbit into which the satellites were launched. Orbit "Tundra" - this is one of the types of high elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63, 4 ° and a period of rotation in a sidereal day (this is 4 minutes less than a solar day). The satellites located in this orbit are in geosynchronous orbit, the track of such spacecraft most of all resembles a figure eight in shape. It is known that the QZSS satellites of the Japanese navigation system and the Sirius XM Radio broadcasting satellites serving North America use the Tundra orbit.
It is known that the new Tundra satellites have been developed with the participation of the Kometa Central Research Institute (payload module) and the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation (platform development). Earlier, "Kometa" was already engaged in the development and design of a space system for early detection of launches of ICBMs of the first and second generation, as well as the space echelon of an early warning missile system (the "Oko" system). Also, engineers from the Lavochkin NPO took part in the creation of the Tundra spacecraft target equipment module, who developed elements of the supporting structure (in particular, honeycomb panels with and without equipment, compartment frames), external and internal hinges (heat pipes, radiators, receivers, directional antennas, directional antennas), and also provided dynamic and strength calculations.
Unlike the satellites of the Oko-1 system, which could detect only the torch of a launching ballistic missile, and the determination of its trajectory was transmitted to ground-based early warning systems, which significantly increased the time required to collect information, the new Tundra system can itself determine the parameters of a ballistic missile. trajectories of detected missiles and probable areas of their destruction. An important difference is the presence of a combat control system on board the spacecraft, which makes it possible to send a signal via satellites to retaliate against the enemy. It is reported that the control of the Tundra satellites, like the satellites of the two previous systems, is carried out from the Central Command Post of the early warning system, located in Serpukhov-15.
