"Outer space control system", SKKP is a special strategic system, the main task of which is to monitor the artificial satellites of our planet, as well as other space objects. It is an integral part of the Aerospace Defense Forces. According to the official representative of the Aerospace Defense Forces Alexei Zolotukhin, the analysis of the maneuvers of reconnaissance vehicles carried out in outer space makes it possible with a high degree of reliability to predict the time of the start of the first massive air-missile strike of an air offensive operation. To do this, it is enough to have an idea of the group of spacecraft deployed by a potential enemy and to know the maneuvers performed by them.
For over 50 years, in the Moscow region in the city of Noginsk, they not only monitor each of the 12 thousand artificial earth satellites in orbit, but also clearly represent where they may be at one time or another. This is very important because a new era has begun with the launch of the first satellite in human history. For some, the night sky is just a cluster of twinkling stars, but for some it is a real battlefield. The leading world powers quickly realized this and began to work in this direction. The second half of the 20th century was marked by the development and release of all kinds of radar: decimeter and meter ranges, optoelectronic, optical, radio engineering and laser space tracking devices. Similar systems have been deployed in the USSR, the USA and the PRC. Their main purpose was to track the activity of a potential enemy in outer space.
In the Soviet Union, the means of warning about missile attack (PRN), anti-missile (ABM) and anti-space defense (PKO) were consistently put into operation. To provide information support for their joint use, the Outer Space Control Service (SCS) was formed, the main tasks of which were solved in a specially built for these purposes TsKKP - Outer Space Control Center.
According to experts, more than a thousand functioning spacecraft are currently operating in Earth's orbit, and the total number of satellites, together with those that have already been used, apparently exceeds 12 thousand units. The satellites launched into Earth's orbit belong to 30 countries of the world and various intergovernmental organizations. They are designed to solve military, civil and dual-use tasks: reconnaissance from space of land, sea, air objects, detection of ballistic missile launches, remote sensing of the Earth's surface, data transmission and communication, meteorological reconnaissance, topogeodesy, space navigation, etc. And all these facilities, both operating and decommissioned, are monitored by SKKP specialists.
One of the main tasks of the Outer Space Control Center is to maintain a unified information base of all space objects - the Main Catalog of Space Objects of the Outer Space Control System. This catalog is intended for long-term storage of orbital measuring, optical, radar, radio engineering and special information about all objects of artificial origin located at altitudes from 120 km to 40,000 km. This catalog contains information on 1500 indicators of the characteristics of each space object (its number, signs, coordinates, orbital characteristics, etc.). Every day, to support the Main Catalog of Space Objects, the specialists of the Center for Collective Use of Spaces process more than 60 thousand different measurements.
The intensive exploration of outer space by man has led to the formation of large volumes of "space debris" in orbit, consisting of space objects that have collapsed for various reasons. These objects can pose a real threat to manned astronautics and operating and newly launched space vehicles. At the same time, today there is a clear dynamics of an increase in their number. If in the 60s there were hundreds of such objects, in the 80s and 90s there were thousands, today their count has gone to tens of thousands.
In 2014, the Russian aerospace defense forces, within the framework of combat duty to ensure control of outer space, carried out work to control the launch of approximately 230 foreign and Russian spacecraft into various orbits. More than 150 space objects were also accepted for tracking, 26 warnings were issued about the approach of space objects with the devices of the Russian orbital group, including about 6 dangerous approaches to the ISS. Works on predicting and monitoring the termination of the ballistic existence of more than 70 different spacecraft have been performed.
Sharp "Voronezh"
The facility located in Noginsk is the center of a large network of space monitoring stations, but, in addition to the SKKP, the unified system for global monitoring of the situation in space also includes the Missile Attack Warning System (SPRN), as well as the forces and means of air and anti-missile defense. The most famous of them is the Voronezh-type early warning radar for missile attack. Voronezh is a Russian over-the-horizon missile attack warning system of high factory readiness (VZG radar).
Currently, there are options for stations operating in the meter Voronezh-M and decimeter wavelengths Voronezh-DM. The basis of this radar station is a phased array antenna, several containers with electronic equipment and a pre-fabricated building for personnel, which allows you to upgrade the station very quickly and with minimal costs during its operation.
Radar "Voronezh-M" - a station operating in the meter range, target detection range up to 6 thousand kilometers. The RTI named after Academician A. L. Mints was created in Moscow, the chief designer is V. I. Karasev.
Radar "Voronezh-DM" - a station operating in the decimeter range, the detection range of targets on the horizon - up to 6 thousand kilometers, vertically (near space) - up to 8 thousand kilometers. Able to simultaneously monitor up to 500 objects. NPK NIIDAR was established with the participation of the Mints RTI. Chief Designer - S. D. Saprykin.
The Voronezh-VP radar is a high-potential VHF radar, created at the Mints RTI.
All Voronezh radars are designed: to detect ballistic targets (missiles) within their viewing area; calculation of motion parameters of tracked targets based on incoming radar information; tracking and measuring the coordinates of detected targets and interference carriers; determination of the type of detected targets; delivery of information about the jamming and target environment in a fully automatic mode to other consumers.
Radars of the Voronezh type are being built on pre-prepared sites comparable in size to a football field from standard components (transportable hardware and antenna modules) that can be easily replaced, re-formed, and augmented taking into account the purpose of the complex and its tasks. The maximum unification of the equipment used and the modular principle of construction make it possible to create radars of different potential with antennas, the dimensions of which are determined only by the specific conditions of their location and the tasks facing them. Radars of the Voronezh type can be used in KKP, PRN, missile defense systems, as well as non-strategic missile defense and air defense systems. They can also be used as a national means of control and monitoring of the surface and air situation.
In terms of their performance characteristics, the Voronezh radar stations are not inferior to the used Dnepr-M and Daryal stations. With an effective target detection range of 4,500 km, they have the technical capability to increase it to 6,000 km (detection range of the Daryal radar is more than 6,000 km, the Dnepr radar is 4,000 km). At the same time, the Voronezh-type radars are distinguished by the lowest energy consumption - less than 0.7 MW (for the Daryal radar - 50 MW, for the Dnepr radar - 2 MW). According to experts, the cost of creating a Voronezh-type radar is 1.5 billion rubles (for the Daryal radar in 2005 prices - almost 20 billion rubles, for the Dnepr radar - about 5 billion rubles). The Voronezh-type radars compare favorably with the Daryal and Dnepr stations, which today form the basis of the over-the-horizon location of the early warning system, by their short deployment time, autonomy, high reliability, compactness and 40% lower operating costs of the station.
A distinctive feature of the Voronezh radar is their high factory readiness (VZG), due to which the period of their installation does not exceed 1.5-2 years. Technically, each radar station includes 23 units of various equipment in factory-made containers. At the program-algorithmic and technological levels, the issues of managing the power resources of the station are resolved. A highly informative radar control system and built-in hardware control can reduce maintenance costs.
The first radar station "Voronezh-M" was deployed in the village of Lekhtusi near St. Petersburg in 2008. This station allows you to track missile launches at the Anne (Norway) and Kiruna (Sweden) test ranges, as well as track helicopters and aircraft in its area of responsibility. At the same time, the station allows the military to control everything that happens in the air and space in this sector. In the future, the station will be upgraded to the Voronezh-VP level. The facility in Lehtusi allowed the military to close the north-western missile-dangerous direction and provides control over the airspace from Svalbard to Morocco.
The second Voronezh-DM station was commissioned in 2009 near Armavir. The station covers the southwest direction and allows you to control the airspace from Southern Europe to the North African coast. It is planned to introduce the second segment, which will overlap the coverage area of the Gabala radar station. Another Voronezh-DM station was built in the Kaliningrad region in the village of Pionerskoye; the station took up combat duty in 2014. It covers the western direction, for which the radar stations in Mukachevo and Belarusian Baranovichi were responsible.
In the very near future, another Voronezh-DM radar station will be commissioned near the town of Usolye-Sibirskoye, Irkutsk Region. The antenna field of this station is exactly 2 times larger than that of the first Lekhtusinsky radar - 240 degrees and 6 sections instead of three, which will allow the station to monitor a large area. The station will be able to control the space from China to the west coast of the United States. The facility is currently on experimental combat duty. There are plans to commission in 2015 similar radars in the area of the Ust-Kem village in the Yenisei district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, as well as the holiday village of Konyukhi near Barnaul in the Altai Territory. Also, the construction of similar facilities is already underway near Vorkuta, in the area of the city of Olenegorsk, Murmansk region, the city of Pechora of the Komi Republic and in the Omsk region. “After the commissioning of all these over-the-horizon radars, it will be possible to say that Russia has completely restored the radar field of the early warning system. The flow of orbital measurements will significantly increase,”the VKO troops note.
Space "Window"
The outer space control system also includes a number of other interesting objects, for example, the unique in every sense optical-electronic complex for recognizing space objects "Window", which has no analogues in the world. This complex is one of the most effective means that are part of the domestic space control system. Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin, a representative of the press service and information department of the RF Ministry of Defense for the VKO Troops, told reporters about the completion of state tests of the full composition of the "Window" complex in November 2014. The complex, which allows solving problems related to space exploration not only by Russian, but also by foreign organizations and departments, is located on the territory of Tajikistan near Nurek at an altitude of 2200 meters above sea level. The complex is located in the Sanglok Mountains, which are part of the Pamir mountain system.
The Okno complex is designed to automatically detect various space objects at altitudes from 120 km to 40,000 km, collect photometric and coordinate information on these objects, calculate the motion parameters of space objects and transmit the results of the processing to higher command posts. The operation of the "Window" optoelectronic complex is fully automated. During a working session, which usually takes all night and twilight hours of the day, the complex is able to work without operators in real time, giving reliable information about known and newly discovered space objects. The detection is carried out in a passive mode, due to which this complex has a low level of power consumption.
The optical-electronic complex "Window" includes an optical-electronic system for measuring angular coordinates and photometry of space objects and an optical-electronic system for detecting stationary space objects. A characteristic feature of these two systems can be called their use as information carriers of signals received during the reflection of solar radiation from space objects. For all objects detected in space, against the background of signals from stars and noise, velocity, angular coordinates and brightness are determined. A distinctive feature for selection is the difference in the apparent angular velocities of objects and stars.
Another radio-optical reconnaissance complex for low-orbit space objects is located in the North Caucasus and is called "Krona" and includes a radar station in the decimeter range, a radar in the centimeter range and a command and computer center. The system also includes the Moment radio-technical complex for monitoring emitting spacecraft, located in the Moscow region, and many other objects throughout Russia.
According to Lieutenant General Alexander Golovko, who holds the post of commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces, in 2014, the Aerospace Defense Forces began work on creating a network of ground-based laser-optical and radio-technical systems for recognizing space objects, which will be able to expand the range of controlled orbits and immediately -3 times will reduce the minimum size of objects detected in outer space.
In accordance with the state armament program approved in our country until 2020, work will be carried out on almost all individual command and measurement complexes to commission new command and measurement systems. “Currently, Russia is carrying out about 20 various experimental design works, among which we can single out work on the development of a unified command and measurement control system for spacecraft (SC) of a new generation, improvement of the ground control complex of the GLONASS system, a promising system for receiving and processing telemetry information and much more,”said the lieutenant general. Alexandra Golovko added that equipping of the Main Testing Space Center named after V. I. Titov (manages 80% of the national orbital constellation) new promising satellite communication stations. The network of quantum-optical systems designed for high-precision positioning of Russian spacecraft will also be gradually expanded.
Alexey Zolotukhin, a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry's press service and information department for the Aerospace Defense Forces (VKO), told reporters that in 2015 Russia will begin construction of new radio-technical systems for space control in the Kaliningrad, Moscow regions, as well as in Primorsky and Altai region, reports TASS. In 2015, one of the priority areas of development of the Aerospace Defense Forces was chosen to improve the domestic means of the SKKP to ensure the safety of space activities in Russia by increasing the ability to process information about the state of the situation in the near-earth orbit. According to Zolotukhin, it is planned to deploy 10 such complexes in Russia in the coming years.
