Small spacecraft can do more
Despite the rivalry of the leading space powers in the development of high-capacity launch vehicles, in the near future, small and ultra-small spacecraft (SSC) will rapidly develop. What tasks will they solve?
In conditions of congestion in the near-Earth space, the stake on the small spacecraft may turn out to be very promising. And not only because they are several times cheaper than multi-ton engines, and their efficiency is no less.
Monsters in orbit
One of the most important directions in the development of small spacecraft systems is information support for troops. Russia was the first of the countries to place the appropriate equipment on board an ultra-small spacecraft. In 1995, this direction was supported and, as they say, blessed by the Commander of the Military Space Forces (1989-1992), Colonel-General Vladimir Ivanov. To implement the plan, a group of young scientists gathered under the leadership of Major General Vyacheslav Fateev.
Small spacecraft can be created within the walls of a university
Photo: bmstu.ru
What does the small spacecraft have to do with the information support of ground forces and aerospace defense? The fact is that each traditional space system has its pros and cons. After all, it is not without reason that the development of orbiters proceeded with a constant increase in size and weight - this was required by the equipment placed on them. Take optical-electronic reconnaissance satellites. Their resolution is proportional to the lens diameter of the onboard telescope. Optics, giving acceptable results for reconnaissance, have a mass of three to five tons. Satellites equipped with such equipment produce good images. But for economic reasons, very few such spacecraft are launched, and they physically cannot be at the right point of the orbit to control the situation in an arbitrarily chosen area. Either there should be a lot of such reconnaissance satellites, or you will have to accept that control from space on a particular battlefield is possible at best two or three times a day. In addition, deciphering space images for target recognition requires, as a rule, a large investment of time, which is unacceptable in conditions of warfare.
Electronic intelligence also makes serious demands on the carrier vehicle: in order to increase the resolution, the onboard receivers must be spread as far as possible, but there is a limit - the dimensions of the satellite.
Space radar reconnaissance, based on the so-called principle of monolocation, has its own requirements. Here, more power is needed from the on-board power supply system, which increases the load. In addition, such a system provides only one observation angle and it is easy to deceive it by using false targets in the form of the simplest corner reflectors.
Make way for "kids"!
It turns out that with traditional methods of space reconnaissance a spacecraft cannot be small by definition. It means that the time has come to adopt other methods. At the Army-2015 forum, a round table "Small spacecraft - a tool for solving problems of aerospace defense" was dedicated to them.
The first area is multispectral exploration. According to Vyacheslav Fateev, with a telescope with a minimum diameter, we can, as they say, cover the target and take a picture with a low resolution. But if we add to this a multispectral portrait of the target, then using the on-board computer we will get a high-quality image in real time. An optical reconnaissance system without a large telescope turns out to be quite compact, and the signal processing speed by modern means is high. The experiments carried out have shown promising results, but they have not yet been claimed by the Ministry of Defense. But in the USA, on this principle, the spacecraft for information support of the TACSAT battlefield has already been created.
The second direction is the development of electronic intelligence. With a distance between satellites of 10-50 kilometers, the resolution of the space system increases hundreds of times due to the increase in the measurement base. The parameters of the spacecraft required for these purposes have been calculated. It weighs only 100 kilograms. And a system of three or four such small spacecraft will be able to provide duplex communication on the battlefield, monitoring vehicles, territory, atmosphere … The accuracy of determining the coordinates is meters. Today, such a system is in great demand by missile forces and artillery. But in order to get an order for it, we again have to seriously work with the Ministry of Defense.
With regard to radar, experts investigated the possibility of third-party radio illumination of the target or irradiating it from other satellites - as if from the side. What does it do?
“One satellite of the cluster with a transmitter irradiates the Earth's surface and targets, and the lightweight satellites nearby (without transmitters and powerful power supply systems) receive a response signal,” explains Fateev, “and build radio images of these targets. Moreover, in the cluster we get not one, but several radio images at once, which eliminates the possibility of interference and opens up the possibility of opening masked targets."
Scientists conducted an experiment on target radio illumination using GLONASS spacecraft. The signal was weak. Nevertheless, seven radio images of the observed target were synthesized with illumination from seven satellites at once. This has become a new direction of work. Judging by the publications in the foreign press, they became interested in the experiment abroad. The European Space Agency intends to repeat it. But no matter what they succeed, here we were the first.
Guarding the orbital boundaries
For information support of troops, it is important to solve not only the problem of operational interconnection of subunits in the area of military conflict, but also the problem of global operational communication of remote military groupings (groups of naval ships, aviation groupings) with the central military command. As domestic and foreign experience shows, all these problems are relatively simple and stable to be solved with the help of low-orbit groupings of small spacecraft communications.
Another important area of information support for troops is global control of the weather in areas of combat operations and areas of redeployment of troops. This is also within the power of the ICA groupings. Our and foreign experience has shown this.
One more direction is the improvement of the space echelon of the East Kazakhstan region. Here, according to Vyacheslav Fateev, the first and most successful application of the small spacecraft is the development of the space control system (OMSS). A series of cross-field satellites are placed in orbit. Modeling suggests that only eight spacecraft in the constellation will make it possible to clarify the target of any new object within half an hour. Now, in ground-based optoelectronic and radar systems, this takes several hours.
Another advantage in creating such a space echelon is that we do not have ground-based facilities that would observe orbits with an inclination of less than 30 degrees. They are not available to us, but this system will make the task solvable.
It is possible to expand the space echelon of the SKKP also by creating means of electronic reconnaissance. To do this, small spacecraft are equipped with electronic interceptors. As a result, it becomes possible to observe globally all geostationary communication systems that were previously unavailable for control.
Another problem that the aerospace defense will have to solve in the near future is the fight against the so-called inspection satellites. We know Americans are using them. Data were published on the creation and launch into geostationary orbit of two small satellites weighing about 220 kilograms. The goal is to control the operation of their geostationary spacecraft. However, these two vehicles in orbit move either in one direction or the other in the coverage area of both American and our geostationary spacecraft. It is very difficult to spot them from Earth, but our SKKP was able to do it.
Could MCA be even smaller? There are calculations: with a size of 0.4 meters, the stellar magnitude of the MCA will be approximately M18. And if it is even smaller, then the satellite becomes indistinguishable from the Earth, and it is practically impossible to fight with such "invisibility". What to do?
“One of the most important directions in the development of the small spacecraft is the inspection of the geostationary orbit,” Fateev believes. - If we can do it, it will be a success. But for this we need our own inspection satellites."
The next most difficult area is space detection systems for hypersonic aircraft (GZVA). This is one of the most dangerous and serious weapons that flies at medium altitudes (from 20 to 40 km and even higher). It seems, and not a satellite, but not an airplane either. Speeds - over Mach 5. Not every radar station is capable of detecting. And yet, the Russian space control system, which has a small spacecraft, will be able to see such hypersonic vehicles. Since they heat up to 1000 degrees and create a plasma field around them, only nine small spacecraft are required to "cover" the GZVA.
Finally, it is necessary to create a group for operational control of the ionosphere, including in the circumpolar region. This is extremely important, especially when solving problems of increasing the accuracy of GLONASS. Errors in determining coordinates are still significant today, and by 2020 they must be significantly reduced. This is also necessary in connection with the commissioning of over-the-horizon radar facilities of the aerospace defense system. Without a deep knowledge of the properties of the ionosphere, we will not be able to solve the problem of accurately determining the coordinates of radar targets. The task is quite solvable with the help of a grouping of small ionospheric monitoring devices.
The problem of continuous radiation monitoring in near-earth space is not removed from the agenda either.
Universal tool
As we can see, in order to solve a variety of tasks, including those facing the troops, it is necessary to develop a multi-satellite information support system. This does not mean that each of the 10–12 systems discussed above requires a separate grouping. It will be too expensive. According to Fateev, all this can and should be combined into one grouping, the basis of which is mutual radio communication between all the nearest small spacecraft that create the network. Everyone sees a neighbor on the millimeter-wave channel and transmits his information through him.
At the same time, the most important task is being solved - the creation of a global system for transmitting information between any ground and space consumers. If this is achieved, then information from any small spacecraft can be transmitted to the desired point on the Earth, be it signals of command and control from the commander to a subordinate or intelligence from other vehicles. Moreover, due to the constant presence of one or three small spacecraft in the visibility zone of the consumer (the central military command), intelligence information is transmitted in real time from anywhere.
Thus, a single universal multi-satellite constellation solves the problems of providing global communications, comprehensive operational reconnaissance of theater of operations and near-earth space, full control of the Earth's gravitational field (unfortunately, Russia is now left without orbital geodetic systems) and weather … military, and for peaceful purposes. Moreover, the most interesting civil application will affect each of us. It is about the implementation of the idea of the "Space Internet". Some countries are already building such projects. "Space Internet" will nominate Russia among the most informationally developed countries.
“It remains to convince our military customer of the effectiveness of the proposed universal single system of dual-use small spacecraft,” Fateev summarizes. - Of course, there are problems. It is necessary to develop completely new information and space technologies. In addition, the smaller the spacecraft, the shorter its orbital life. Therefore, it will be necessary to envisage either an increase in the orbital altitude, or a timely replacement of the small spacecraft. In addition, an economic assessment of the unified system that is being created is necessary in order to understand how beneficial it will be for the state."
Who will formulate the terms of reference?
One of the problems is, experts say, that the customer, that is, the Ministry of Defense, has no experience in creating and using them. The second obstacle is the lack of tactical and technical requirements for such small spacecraft. So far, no one has clearly and precisely said what the TK should be.
Of course, there are relevant institutions, research institutes, and interrelated standards. “In accordance with the international classification, MCA are subdivided into devices from 500 to 100 kilograms, from 100 to 10 kilograms, from 10 to 1 kilogram, from a kilogram to 100 grams,” recalls Vladimir Letunov, Director General of NCCI “Integrated Development of Technologies”. - The size of the devices also matters. Objects with a diameter of less than 10 centimeters are not identified by means of radio control, and they can be seen through optics only at certain heights."
There is an understanding that a single platform should be developed for such small spacecraft. But the plan has not yet been concretized. The bases on which the grouping is built are clear, there is a set of classifiers, restrictions and components. According to Letunov, in the foreseeable future, 90 percent of spacecraft will be of a small class, with the future behind them.
Deputy chief designer of NPO named after Lavochkin Nikolay Klimenko explained that their company has long and purposefully been carrying out work on the creation of MCA and has the appropriate groundwork. The modified space platform "Karat-200" was created. Applied scientific and technical solutions are offered on its basis. A number of experimental vehicles have already been in space. There are projects of other spacecraft of this type for solving applied problems in the interests of the military. However, the Ministry of Defense has not yet given the go-ahead for production.
The powder flasks are empty
Does Russia have a concept for launching and using small spacecraft? Alas … Although for the first time a proposal for the use of the small spacecraft was put forward, we repeat, by the former commander of the Military Space Forces, Colonel-General Vladimir Ivanov. His idea was that large satellites are for the top leadership, the MCA is for groupings of troops. It was 20 years ago, but the concept has never been implemented. Why?
Specific cases were required. In particular, a series of small radar apparatus was planned under the code name "Condor". They have not received development. Now only one of these vehicles is in orbit. Why didn't it work? Because opposing large and small spacecraft is counterproductive and wrong. They should complement each other. In peacetime, high-performance devices are needed to form the reference databases. MCA does not solve this problem. And the big ones can. Earlier, in a special period, that is, before the war, according to the existing canons, it was envisaged to build up the orbital group at the expense of spacecraft ammunition. But it has not existed for many years, there is simply nothing to replenish the orbital group with. However, there should be ammunition. Because when it becomes necessary to enter the necessary data into the missile route maps, the main role is no longer so much performance as the frequency of observation. The growth of the grouping involves not just an increase in the number of apparatuses: 20–25–30 … No economy can withstand this. This means that the quantity must be accurately calculated. An observation period of two to three hours will suit the military department.
It is necessary to simplify the design as much as possible, to reduce the cost of products, using commercial offers for this. As the experience of local conflicts shows, their duration is from a week to a year. This means that the period of active existence of the MCA must be commensurate. The main thing is not to allow a situation where readiness for launch will be ensured only by the end of hostilities.
But this requires the development of an appropriate concept. The preparation period for the launch of such devices from the receipt of the command is a week. In the opinion of the developers, it would be advisable to:
- to create a concept of operational build-up of the orbital constellation's capabilities in a special period while maintaining payload requirements for this standard (they should be applicable to both large and small spacecraft);
- to develop unified requirements for the technology of spacecraft manufacturing, which will ensure their accelerated release;
- to create unified space platforms with modular architecture and automated interfaces for accelerated integration into space systems (so that all developers have a clear idea of how and from what we will make the device);
- to introduce Russian interfaces that will ensure the functioning of space platforms in various conditions.
Finally, it would be right to gather an expert community, including representatives of the defense industry complex and ordering bodies, in order to decide on the use of such a multipurpose joint grouping of spacecraft in a special period of time.
Until the aforementioned approaches are implemented, nothing new will appear in Russia's space orbits.
