Joint U.S./Russian Federation Projects
For several years the US and the Russian Federation have discussed the feasibility of exchanging satellite-based early warning data or establishing a joint center in the context of an international early warning or missile defense system. In late 1994 a Russian delegation to the US proposed a new, medium altitude constellation comprised of 18 spacecraft. Meanwhile, two joint US-Russian test programs RAMOS and Skipper were underway, although neither had been launched by the end of 1994. The RAMOS (Russian-American Observation Satellite) project envisions the launch of two low altitude (425 km) spacecraft equipped with specialIR sensors designed to provide simultaneous stereo tracking of theater missiles and environmental phenomena (References 94-100).
The Skipper program was much farther along and completed a Critical Design Review in the Spring of 1994 but missed a planned December, 1994, launch date. The 230-kg spacecraft was to be built by the Moscow Aviation Institute and launched by a Molniya-M booster as a piggyback payload with the Indian IRS-1C remote sensing spacecraft. The principal sensors, UV and VUV spectrometers and photometers, were the responsibility of the Utah State University. From an initial circular orbit of about 820 km, Skipper will lower its perigee in stages to 120-150 km. Data will be collected during atmospheric interfaces near perigee and finally during a planned de-orbit over the Pacific Ocean (References 101-104).
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