EKS Kupol Missile Early-Warning Satellites

Russian missile warning system filled up dozens of new satellites by 2020

http://militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&nid=436107

Moscow. 20th of December. Interfax-AVN - About 10 new spacecraft plans to launch video conferencing Russian Federation up to 2020 within the framework of improving the missile warning system, the chief of the General Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant-General Paul Kurachenko.

"To improve the warning system (EWS) is planned to build five high prefabrication radar until 2020" Voronezh ", and the commissioning of about 10 new spacecraft single space launch detection systems and command and control," - he said Tuesday on scientific and technical conference in Moscow.

Interfax 13:43
Russian missile early warning spacecraft undergoing development flight tests

Launch of the second satellite of the EKS early-warning system



On May 25, 2017 at 09:33:41 MSK (06:33:41 UTC), the Air and Space Forces successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b launcher from the launch pad No. 4 of the launch complex No. 43 of the Plesetsk site. Press reports quote official statement as saying the launcher carried "a new-generation satellite for the ministry of defense." The satellite is being delivered to the orbit by a Fregat-M booster. (More photos of the launch.)

The satellite is the second "Tundra" spacecraft of the new early-warning system, known as EKS. The system is expected to include satellites in Molniya-type highly-elliptical orbit as well as geostationary satellites. It will probably be designated Cosmos-2518. The first satellite of the system, Cosmos-2510, was launched into an HEO orbit in November 2015. Cosmos-2518 appears to be an HEO satellite as well--it was reported that the industry delivered the first two HEO satellites in October 2015 and that there was a delay with the first GEO spacecraft.

Satellites of the EKS system are the only early-warning satellites that are currently in service. The old US-KS/US-KMO system ended operations in 2014. A working early-warning constellation would probably include about ten satellites on HEO as well as several GEO satellites. The new armament program appears to call for ten new satellite launches by 2020. It is difficult to see, however, how this plan can materialize. It should be noted, though, that Russia does not depend on the space tier of its early-warning system to the extent the United States does, so the lack of coverage by satellite does not necessarily increase the risk of miscalculation.

http://russianforces.org/blog/2017/05/launch_of_the_second_satellite.shtml

US reported a Russian military satellite burnt in the atmosphere

The satellite "Cosmos-2430" warning system for a rocket attack "Eye" descended from orbit and burned in the atmosphere. On January 10, TASS news agency reports, citing the command of the aerospace defense of North America.

The device was launched into space on October 23, 2007 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome and had to track the launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles from the United States.

It is noted that the satellite resource was developed back in 2012 or in 2014, after which the connection with it was lost.

https://iz.ru/832290/2019-01-10/ssha-soobshchili-o-sgorevshem-v-atmosfere-rossiiskom-voennom-sputnike

Hmm...normal...or peresvet doing is thing?

dino00 wrote:US reported a Russian military satellite burnt in the atmosphere

The satellite "Cosmos-2430" warning system for a rocket attack "Eye" descended from orbit and burned in the atmosphere. On January 10, TASS news agency reports, citing the command of the aerospace defense of North America.

The device was launched into space on October 23, 2007 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome and had to track the launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles from the United States.

It is noted that the satellite resource was developed back in 2012 or in 2014, after which the connection with it was lost.

https://iz.ru/832290/2019-01-10/ssha-soobshchili-o-sgorevshem-v-atmosfere-rossiiskom-voennom-sputnike

Hmm...normal...or peresvet doing is thing?

The satellite was a part of Russia’s Oko missile attack early warning system

More:
http://tass.com/defense/1039342

New Tundra satellite launched

https://tass.com/defense/1080034

Guys can any one translate this

https://twitter.com/krakek1/status/1184087210263568390

Tundra EWS

Kosmos 2422, a Russian US-K missile early warning satellite de-orbited and burnt in the atmosphere

https://tass.com/science/1092135

Austin wrote:Guys can any one translate this

https://twitter.com/krakek1/status/1184087210263568390

Tundra EWS

You can use Yandex image translate

https://translate.yandex.com/ocr

Russia replaces orbital missile early warning system with new satellites

The Oko-1 orbital grouping comprised eight satellites and ceased to operate in 2014

MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Russia has replaced its Oko-1 orbital missile early warning system with new Kupol satellites, according to the materials for a briefing by Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov who spoke at a meeting with foreign military attaches on Tuesday.

In his presentation, the chief of Russia’s General Staff demonstrated slides that showed the structure of the country’s missile early warning system. Specifically, the slides showed a satellite with the caption: satellite of the Kupol integrated space system.

The general noted at the presentation that in 2019 Russia launched another satellite of the integrated space system, which enhanced its capabilities for detecting ballistic missile launches. Russia’s Defense Ministry earlier reported that the new system’s satellites were called Tundra. The first such satellite was launched in 2015.

The Oko-1 orbital grouping comprised eight satellites and ceased to operate in 2014.

As of now, the new orbital grouping comprises three satellites, including the space vehicle orbited this year. Overall, nine new satellites are set to be launched by 2022.

https://tass.com/science/1100559

Launch of the 4th EKS satellite

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/eks4.html

Fourth Tundra early-warning satellite is in orbit

On May 22, 2020 at 10:31 MSK (07:31 UTC), the Air and Space Forces successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b launcher from the launch pad No. 4 of the launch complex No. 43 of the Plesetsk site. The satellite delivered to the orbit (by a Fregat booster) will join the space-based segment of the early-warning system.

The satellite was designated Cosmos-2546. Its international designation is 2020-031A.

The satellite is the fourth spacecraft of the new early-warning system, known as EKS or Kupol. The first satellite of the system, Cosmos-2510, was launched in November 2015. The second and third, Cosmos-2518 and Cosmos-2541, were launched in May 2017 and September 2019 respectively. Satellites are deployed on Molniya-type highly elliptical orbits and are said to be capable of detecting launches from all potential missile launch areas. The complete system is expected to include ten satellites on HEO and GEO orbits.

http://russianforces.org/blog/2020/05/fourth_tundra_early-warning_sa.shtml

Russia sets up basic missile attack early warning satellite grouping

The system will continuously monitor US territory for possible ballistic missile launches

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. Russia has set up the basic space segment of its missile attack early warning system to continuously monitor US territory for possible ballistic missile launches. The segment’s four satellites are fully coping with their task, a source in the domestic defense industry told TASS on Thursday.

"With the launch of the fourth Tundra-type space vehicle from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on May 22, the Kupol integrated space system has been brought to the minimum required structure and allows tracking any launches of ballistic missiles and space rockets from the territory of the United States. The satellites are accomplishing their mission in working orbits in full," the source said.

The Tundra satellites "are equipped with next-generation infrared surveillance devices that make it possible to register with high precision the launches of missiles against the background of the Earth’s surface," he said.

The satellites are also "capable of tracking the trajectory of the flight of ballistic missiles and predict the areas of the fall of their warheads in the automatic mode," the source noted.

The four Tundra satellites from Russia’s Kupol single space system are moving around Earth in highly elliptical orbits with a maximum altitude of over 35,00 km of their flight above the planet. Their flight paths are located at angles to each other, forming the so-called constellation over the Northern hemisphere, the source specified.

Russia’s missile attack early warning system

The first three Tundra satellites were launched in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

As another source in the defense industry earlier told TASS, the Kupol integrated space system is set to involve nine new satellites. The Kupol orbital grouping is designated to replace the defunct Oko and Oko-1 missile attack early warning systems.

The Russian missile attack early warning system consists of two echelons: the space segment that currently comprises four Tundra satellites and the ground-based component that consists of Voronezh-type radar stations that cover all missile-dangerous directions.

The system is designated to detect within the shortest time possible and track ballistic missiles launched towards the territory of Russia or its allies.

https://tass.com/defense/1164035

Missile warning satellites cluster Kupol brought to minimum standard strength

Satellites in highly elliptical orbits monitor the areas of ballistic missile launches on mainland territories and in the world ocean, according to the CEO of Energia corporation

MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. The integrated space system Kupol, created for monitoring ballistic missile launches, has been brought to the minimum standard strength, the CEO of the space rocket corporation Energia, Igor Ozar, said on Wednesday.

"With the launch of a fourth space satellite Tundra the space system Kupol has been brought to the minimum standard strength," he said.

He explained that the satellites in highly elliptical orbits monitored the areas of ballistic missile launches on mainland territories and in the world ocean. The fourth Tundra satellite was orbited on May 22.

In June, a source in the defense and industry complex told TASS that with the launch of a fourth such satellite Russia created a basic space segment of a missile attack warning system that allowed for monitoring the US territory for possible launches of ballistic missiles. The Tundra satellites, equipped with new generation infrared monitoring instruments, allow for accurately identifying missile launches from the Earth’s surface, tracking the missiles in flight and automatically forecasting the areas where the warheads might fall.

Another source in the defense and industry complex told TASS that the Kupol cluster would have a total of nine satellites. Kupol is to replace the previous generation space systems Oko and Oko-1.

Russia’s missile attack warning system has two tiers: the space component, currently consisting of four Tundra satellites, and the ground network of Voronezh radars that keep all missile threat directions under control. The main task of the system is to promptly identify and track ballistic missiles that may be launched against Russia or its allies.

https://tass.com/defense/1186069

Tundra satellite delivered to orbit

Yandex image translate now lets you download a translated image....

Soyuz-2.1b rocket with military satellite launched from Plesetsk

MOSCOW, November 2 - RIA Novosti. The Russian Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"On Wednesday, November 2, at 09:48, from the state test cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Plesetsk cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk region , combat crews of the space forces of the Aerospace Forces launched a Soyuz-2.1b medium-class launch vehicle with a spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry," the ministry said.

source

It is belived that the payload was the Kupol-6 missile detection satellite.

19 successful starts for the year.

So, Russia already has 6 satellites of the EKS early warning system in orbit. The question is, what part of the planet are they able to cover?

Russia has four operational early-warning satellites of the EKS/Kupol system

Russia began deployment of the EKS/Kupol space-based segment of its early-warning system in 2015, with a launch of Cosmos-2510 on 17 November 2015. That was the first of six Tundra launches - Cosmos-2518 in May 2017, Cosmos-2541 in September 2019, Cosmos-2546 in May 2020, Cosmos-2552 in November 2021, and Cosmos-2563 in November 2022. It appeared that the Air and Space Forces would launch one satellite annually, but I don't see a launch in 2023.

The first two satellites worked for about five years. Their station-keeping maneuvered ended in late 2020 and late 2021 respectively. This leaves the system with four operational satellites. Although the full system is supposed to include ten satellites, I believe that four can provide sufficient coverage. They appear to have true look-down capability, adequately covering everything north of the equator. Since the satellites are deployed on highly elliptical orbits, they replace each other at the apogee, so there is probably at least one satellite that is in a position to see a launch.

The system does not need ten to provide continuous coverage. Rather, the idea is to have more than one satellite looking at each point. That helps reduce false positives. Ideally one would need three to almost completely eliminate them, but it's not absolutely necessary. Having one means that operators should be on guard regarding false positives, and since they know the capability of the system, they probably are. It is also worth keeping in mind that the role of space-based early warning in Russia is quite different from that in the US. As I explained elsewhere, it's a matter of geography. So, even if there were no satellites at all, the basic function of the early-warning system would not change dramatically.

If Russia keeps the current deployment rate, about one satellite a year, and assuming that the service life stays at five years, getting to a full constellation of ten will be a challenge. Something will have to change.

At some point there was a talk about a geostationary early-warning satellite, but we haven't heard anything about it for quite some time.

https://russianforces.org/blog/2024/01/russia_has_four_operational_ea.shtml

I expect the lifetime of Russian satellites to increase substantially this decade. Russia (finally) is building test facilities that simulate the high radiation space environment on the ground. So you can test space grade electronics without doing an actual launch.

There was talk about a trade with China for Rocket engines and electronics that operate just fine in a vacuum... that would allow them to have unpressurised satellites that can work rather longer.

(the problem with electronics in a vacuum is heat management... with no air for the heat to dissipate into from heat sinks parts overheat and expand and fail.

Russia has the 1906BМ016. This is a LEON4 SPARC processor made for space applications.
https://niiet.ru/product-category/chips/nis/
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Onboard_Computers_and_Data_Handling/Microprocessors

I do not think they will need main chips from China for satellites.

To be honest they said electronics technology and didn't actually specify....