Soviet RECSAT Program 1981-1987
SOVIET MILITARY SPACE ACTIVITIES
As described in the historical summary provided in chapter 1, the Soviet Union has developed a broad range of military space programs for photographic, radar, and electronic surveillance; early warning of missile and space launches; strategic, tactical and theater, and covert store-dump communications; navigation, and anti-satellite weapons.
Soviet use of space for military purposes during the period 1984 through 1987 continued along the well-established lines reported in previous editions of this report. Few new developments appeared. Some programs which had been in the research and development phase attained full operational capability. Others saw the introduction of new generation spacecraft and the phasing out of the older versions. Replacement of failed or aging satellites was routine with some in the latter category being retired to a stand-by mode as in- orbit spares. Resurrection of such satellites to fill-in for later satel lites which had incurred point failure were noted from time to time.
Particular noteworthy instances are reported in this chapter along with observable trends. In most cases, tables have been com piled for the different military programs within the Cosmos series of satellites and, where appropriate, these have been sub-divided by orbital inclination and/or altitude regime to reveal further sub-sets within each program. Tables have also been compiled to summarize the replacement sequences which have maintained well-defined constellations of satellites.
From time to time a number of fragments appear in an orbit for merly occupied by a single object. In the case of a discarded rocket stage the fragmentation may be due to the ignition of remnants of hypergolic propellants which, for some reason or other, come into contact. In rare instances the fragmentation may be due to a catastrophic propulsion failure while the stage is firing.
The Cosmos program provides many examples of fragmentations which appear to have been deliberately initiated to destroy sensitive military payloads which have either completed their missions or malfunctioned in some respect.
The antisatellite (ASAT) tests have produced many fragments when the interceptors have been destroyed following the completion of their test. These are indicated by the prefix of a letter "E" added to the Cosmos number in table 5 (in Chapter 1).
Some EORSATS are seen to fragment after the end of the active phase of their mission as determined by the cessation of station- keeping maneuvers. These are indicated by an asterisk following the date in the "Down" column of table 44. Such fragmentations are believed to be deliberate.
There have been occasions when, following an unsuccessful attempt to recover the payload of a photo-reconnaissance Cosmos, the payload has been deliberately exploded by ground-command. On these occasions, shortwave telemetry has continued to be moni tored by the Kettering Groups following the fragmentation, imply ing that the instrument module remains intact and that the recov erable capsule only is fragmented.
A comprehensive analysis of all on-orbit fragmentations through October 4, 1987 was prepared by Teledyne Brown Engineering for Lockheed EMSCO Inc. 1
observation missions
photographic reconnaissance
Third Generation, High Resolution Missions
Such missions have declined in importance over the period under consideration due to the increased use of fourth and fifth genera tion spacecraft flying missions of increased duration. They are still employed in crisis situations or when additional imagery is urgently required.
Table 36 lists the Cosmos satellite launches in this category from 1984 through 1987. It will be noted that there has been only one mission at the 62.8° inclination and that was back in 1984. It may be that this was not purely for military photo-reconnaissance but could have been a precursor of the materials processing flights, which were acknowledged for Cosmos 1645, Cosmos 1744 and Cosmos 1841 in successive years from 1985 through 1987, culminat ing with Foton 1 in 1988. However, those flights had significantly greater eccentricities and higher orbital periods. 2
The choice of two distinctly different orbital inclinations of 70.0° and 70.4° for missions launched from Tyuratam has yet to be satisfactorily explained, unless it is simply the result of the use of two widely separated A-2 launch pads at the cosmodrome.
The majority of missions in this category are launched into 72.9° inclinations from Plesetsk. Nearly half of these have been recov ered before the 14th day, lending weight to the hypothesis of some degree of urgency being associated with many of these missions.
The two flights at 82.3° the inclination now used almost solely for the film-return remote sensing missions described in the previ ous chapter, had short durations only.
Third Generation, High Perigee Missions
These missions are believed to be used for area surveillance on a search-and-find basis at medium resolution to locate new develop ments or targets for subsequent investigation by higher resolution systems. Toward the end of the first 24 hours in orbit the engine is fired at apogee to raise the orbital period to 92.2 minutes for Tyur atam missions at 70.0° or 70.4° or 92.3 min for Plesetsk missions at 72.9° the difference in period resulting from the desire to obtain complete coverage during the two-week mission.
TABLE 36.—HIGH RESOLUTION, THIRD GENERATION, COSMOS PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES: 1984-1987
Cosmos number and designator Launch date and site Apogee Perigee Incl. Period Life
1580 84-70A ............... 6/29/84 PL ................... 271 228 62.8 89.5 14
1728 86-09A .............. 1/28/86 TT .....................273 225 70.0 89.5 14
1787 86-81A .............. 10/22/86 TT .................. 281 230 70.0 89.6 13
668 85-60A .............. 7/15/85 TT ...................... 281 230 70.4 89.6 14
1696 85-95A .............. 10/16/85 TT ...................281 230 70.4 89.6 14F
> 1747 86-41A ............ 5/29/86 TT .......... ........ 256 211 70.4 89.2 14
1895 87-92A ............... 11/11/87 TT ...................288 228 70.4 89.7 15
1899 87-99A ............... 12/7/87 TT .................... 302 208 70.4 89.6 14
1905 87-107A .............. 12/21/87 TT ................. 281 228 70.4 89.6 14
1551 84-44A ............ 5/11/84 PL ........................ 258 212 72.9 89.2 12
1573 84-61A .............. 6/19/84 PL ...................... 312 229 72.9 89.9 9
1592 84-94A .............. 9/4/84 PL .........................295 233 72.9 89.8 14
1632 85-19A .............. 3/1/85 PL ......................... 267 209 72.9 89.3 14
- 85-54A .............. 6/26/85 PL ...................... 379 224 72.8 90.6 9
- 85-57A .............. 7/3/85 PL .................. ......292 224 72.8 89.7 14
1671 85-65A .............. 8/2/85 PL .................. ........258 229 72.9 89.4 14F
1715 86-01A .............. 1/8/86 PL ............................283 227 72.8 89.6 14
1730 86-12A .............. 2/4/86 PL ............................283 227 72.9 89.6 9
1790 86-85A .............. 11/4/86 PL ..........................282 228 72.9 89.6 14
1819 87-14A .............. 2/7/87 PL .................. ..........256 209 72.8 89.2 11
1822 87-19A .............. 2/19/87 PL ........................... 287 228 72.9 89.7 14
1872 87-69A .............. 8/19/87 PL .................... .......385 247 72.9 90.9 11
1874 87-72A .............. 9/3/87 PL ............................. 288 226 72.9 89.7 14
1648 85-32A ............... 4/25/85 PL .......................... 327 229 82.3 90.1 11
1837 87-35A ............... 4/22/87 PL ...........................247 226 82.2 89.3 6
Notes:
- All satellites were launched by the A-2.
- Apogee and perigee heights in kilometers, inclination in degrees, orbital period in minutes, and lifetime to recovery in integer days.
- Orbital data, which may differ from that given in the Master Log, has been computed from two line orbital element sets provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
- The letter F at the end of an entry signifies that a TF recovery beacon was observed by the fettering Group at the end of the mission.
- Table prepared for the Congressional Research Service by G. E. Perry.
As in the case of the high resolution missions discussed above, Plesetsk accounts for the majority of these missions and the Tyura tam missions are divided between two inclinations differing by only 0.4°
Two missions from 1984 merit special mention. Cosmos 1587 and Cosmos 1613 remained in the low initial orbit for 12 days, making no maneuvers. Apart from signals received by Peter Wakelin from Cosmos 1587 on its day of launch, the Kettering Group did not ob serve any further shortwave transmissions during those 12-day periods. On the thirteenth day of each mission both satellites maneu vered into the high-perigee orbit which provided complete global coverage within 13 days, or 210 orbits. Both satellites were recov ered after 25 days, having transmitted normally in the shortwave band through the second phase of their missions. Both satellites were launched close to 1400 GMT, much later than usual for a normal high-perigee mission, ensuring normal lighting conditions over the second phase when passes were coming earlier in the day.
This particular flight profile has not reappeared and if it was de signed to test the possibility of in-orbit storage of reconnaissance satellites in the short-term then presumably the need has not arisen or else the concept has been abandoned.
Table 37 lists the Cosmos satellite launches in this category from 1984 through 1987.
TABLE 37. — HIGH PERIGEE, THIRD GENERATION, COSMOS PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES: 1984-1987
Cosmos number and designator Launch date and site Apogee PerigeeIncl. Period Life
1587 84-82A ............ 8/6/84 PL ................ ......368 197 72.9 90.2 25
1613 84-121A .......... 11/29/84 PL ................... 356 197 72.8 90.0 25
1571 84-58A ............ 6/11/84 TT ...................... 415 348 70.0 92.2 15
1600 84-103A .......... 9/27/84 TT .......................416 349 70.0 92.2 14
1623 85-05A ............ 1/16/85 TT ................... ....415 349 70.0 92.2 14
1760 86-48A ............ 6/19/86 TT ....................... 415 350 70.0 92.2 14F
1804 86-95A ............ 12/4/86 TT ....................... 415 347 70.0 92.2 14
1889 87-85A ............ 10/9/87 TT ........................ 415 348 70.0 92.2 14
1533 84-06A ............ 1/26/84 TT .........................415 346 70.4 92.2 14
1542 84-25A ............ 3/7/84 TT ...........................414 348 70.4 92.2 14F
1644 85-27A ............ 4/3/85 TT .......................... 415 349 70.4 92.2 14
1775 86-66A ............ 9/3/86 TT ...........................414 348 70.4 92.2 14
1781 86-72A ............ 9/17/86 TT ......................... 413 349 70.4 92.2 14
1843 87-39A ............ 5/5/87 TT ............................415 347 70.4 92.2 14F
1845 87-42A ............ 5/13/87 TT ..........................415 348 70.4 92.2 14
1530 84-02A ............ 1/11/84 PL ..........................416 356 72.8 92.3 14
1545 84-30A ............ 3/21/84 PL ..........................415 356 72.8 92.3 15
1549 84-40A ............ 4/19/84 PL ..........................415 356 72.9 92.3 14F
1568 84-54A ............ 6/1/84 PL ............................414 357 72.8 92.3 13
1583 84-75A ............ 7/24/84 PL ......................... 415 357 72.9 92.3 15
1609 84-117A ........... 11/14/84 PL ....................... 414 356 72.9 92.3 14
1628 85-12A ............ 2/6/85 PL ............................ 415 355 72.9 92.3 14
1649 85-36A ............ 5/15/85 PL ............................ 415 356 72.9 92.3 14
1659 85-46A ............ 6/13/85 PL ............................ 415 357 72.9 92.3 14
1683 85-83A ............ 9/19/85 PL ............................ 414 356 72.9 92.3 15
1685 85-85A ............ 9/26/85 PL ............................ 416 356 72.9 92.3 14
1702 85-106A ........... 11/13/85 PL ......................... 414 356 72.9 92.3 14F
1705 85-111A ........... 12/3/85 PL ................. ..........415 356 72.9 92.3 14
1740 86-29A ............ 4/15/86 PI ............................. 416 355 72.9 92.3 13F
1742 86-33A ............ 5/14/86 PL ............................ 418 353 72.9 92.3 14F
1765 86-54A ............ 7/24/86 PL ............................ 415 356 72.9 92.3 14F
1772 86-63A ............ 8/21/86 PL ............................ 415 356 72.9 92.3 13
1813 87-04A ............ 1/15/87 PL ............................ 416 356 72.8 92.3 dis
1826 87-25A ............ 3/11/87 PL ............................ 414 356 72.9 92.3 14
1848 87-47A ............ 5/28/87 PL ............................. 414 356 72.9 92.3 14F
1863 87-56A ............ 7/4/87 PL ............................... 416 357 72.9 92.3 14
107 87-110A ............ 12/29/87 PL ............................ 415 356 72.8 92.3 14
Notes:
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Fourth Generation, High Resolution Missions
Throughout the period under consideration the trend toward in creased use of satellites with mission durations of up to two months at the expense of the third generation two-week missions has continued and only on rare occasions have such satellites not been in orbit. Instances of such periods exceeding one week oc curred from June 22 through August 16, 1985, following the explo sion of Cosmos 1654 after only 30 days, October 21 through November June 26 through September 16, 1987, following the explosion of Cosmos 1866 after only 17 days.
The latter part of one mission usually overlaps the early phase of a later mission and on two occasions a satellite was launched on the same day as another mission was terminated.
Two inclinations only are employed in these missions—64.8° from Tyuratam and 67.2° from Plesetsk. Perigees are maintained close to 170 km to obtain high resolution imagery with orbital maneu vers controlled by adjustment of apogee heights in the region of 340 km.
Consideration of the apogee/perigee height criteria led to the reassignment of Cosmos 1654 from fifth to fourth generation. Ketter ing Group failure to intercept radio transmissions on 240 MHz from Cosmos 1654 during the month prior to its explosion had sug gested that it might belong to the former class.
It is probable that film capsules are returned at intervals during these missions. Morse code TV recovery beacons were observed from such capsules when this class of satellite was first introduced but have not been observed recently, probably due to failure to monitor at the appropriate times. Digital image return is also a distinct possibility.
Until the end of 1987, the fate of this class of satellite at the end of a mission was still subject to debate. Extrapolation of orbital ele ment sets for fragments which appear in orbit at the end of a mis sion to determine at what time they separated from the parent spacecraft does not provide conclusive evidence in favor of either recovery or controlled de-orbit over the Pacific Ocean. Ground tracks at the times of separation are suitable for either scenario. Due to the lengthy duration of these missions, times of such events occur during hours of darkness in Western Europe which are not conducive to Kettering Group observation of recovery beacons, should they exist. However, a chance observation of a glowing cloud in the night sky over Zambia, has provided the first piece of conclusive evidence in favor of payload recovery. D. Maclntyre and three colleagues reported their observation at 2003 GMT on July 4, 1988, from 15° 02'S, 26° OO'E in a letter to Russell Eberst of the Royal Scottish Observatory, Edinburgh, who realized that it could have been the firing in orbit of a low rocket and suggested that it could have been the retrofire of Cosmos 1942, 3 which was known to have disappeared from orbit on July 4.9. 4 This was quickly confirmed by computing that the ground track of Cosmos 1942 on that date passed over Zambia at the time of the observation and continued northward across Uganda, Baghdad in Iraq, Baku on the Caspian Sea, and on into Kazakhstan to the south of the Urals. From this it could be concluded that the payload was recovered rather than de- orbited and the recovery time was refined to July 4.85.
Table 38 lists the Cosmos satellite launches in this category from 1984 through 1987.
TABLE 38.—FOURTH GENERATION COSMOS PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES: 1984- 1987
Cosmos number and designator, Launch date and site Apogee Perigee incl. period Life
1585 84-77A 7/31/84 TT ............................... 302 174 64.7 89.3 59
1611 84-119A ........... 11/21/84 TT ................ 351 173 64.7 89.8 51
1616 85-02A ............. 1/9/85 TT ................... .368 189 64.9 90.1 54
1630 85-17A ............. 2/27/85 TT .................. 336 175 64.9 89.6 55
1654 85-39A ............. 5/23/85 TT ............... ...343 172 64.9 89.7 dis
1679 85-78A ............. 8/29/85 TT ...................343 173 64.9 89.7 50
1739 86-28A ............. 4/9/86 TT ......................329 173 64.9 89.5 59
1756 86-43A ............. 6/6/86 TT ......................344 173 64.9 89.7 59
1764 86-53A ............. 7/17/86 TT ....................346 174 64.9 89.7 56
1773 86-64A ............. 8/27/86 TT ................ ....345 173 64.9 89.7 55
1792 86-87A ............. 11/13/86 TT ................ ..336 173 64.9 89.6 53
1811 87-02A ............. 1/9/87 TT ...................... 344 172 64.8 89.7 35
1835 87-32A ............. 4/9/87 TT ...................... 340 171 64.8 89.6 56
1901 87-102A ............ 12/14/87 TT ................. 345 173 64.9 89.7 51
1532 84-04A ............ 1/13/84 PL .......................359 166 67.1 89.8 44
1539 84-20A ............ 2/28/84 PL .......................374 182 67.2 90.1 41
1548 84-36A ............ 4/10/84 PL ....................... 333 167 67.1 89.5 45
1558 84-50A ............ 5/25/84 PL ....................... 341 172 67.2 89.6 44
1576 84-66A ............ 6/26/84 PL ....................... 351 170 67.1 89.7 59
1599 84-102A ........... 9/25/84 PL ....................... 319 179 67.1 89.5 56
1647 85-31A ............ 4/19/85 PL ......................... 323 169 67.1 89.4 53
1676 85-72A ............ 8/16/85 PL ......................... 347 166 67.2 89.6 59
1699 85-101A ........... 10/25/85 PL ....................... 339 167 67.1 89.6 59
1706 85-112A ........... 12/11/85 PL ........................ 334 167 67.2 89.5 60
1724 86-04A ............ 1/15/86 PL ........................... 334 168 67.2 89.5 59
1734 86-20A ............ 2/26/86 PL ............................348 163 67.1 89.6 59
1807 86-99A ............ 12/16/86 PL ..........................338 166 67.1 89.6 38
1824 87-21A ............ 2/26/87 PL ............................ 345 167 67.2 89.6 55
1847 87-46A ............ 5/26/87 PL ............................ 346 162 67.2 89.6 57
1866 87-59A ............ 7/9/87 PL .............................. 358 166 67.2 89.8 dis
1886 87-81A ............. 9/17/87 PL ........................... 356 167 67.1 89.8 46
1893 87-89A ............. 10/22/87 PL ..........................340 167 67.2 89.6 55
Notes:
- All satellites were launched by the A-2.
- Apogee and perigee heights in kilometers, inclination in degrees, orbital period in minutes, and lifetime to recovery in integer days.
- Orbital data, which may differ from that given in the Master Log, has been computed from two line orbital element sets provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. >
4. Cosmos 1654 and Cosmos 1866 were deliberately exploded by ground command alter 30 days and 17 days respectively.
5. Table prepared for the Congressional Research Service by G. E. Perry.
A Special Sub-Set
Following the launch of Cosmos 1944, to which representatives of the Western media were invited, Nicholas Johnson of Teledyne Brown Engineering pointed out a sub-set of satellites within those considered to be fourth generation. 5 He drew attention to the fact that these particular satellites, which were all launched from Tyur atam, had a more tightly controlled altitude regime than fourth or fifth generation satellites. Cosmos 1246, Cosmos 1370 and Cosmos 1516 in 1981, 1982 and 1983 respectively, and Cosmos 1608, with the unique 70.0° inclination in 1984, had perigees close to 197 km, but subsequent satellites had perigees some 10 km higher. Radar cross-sections were compatible with Soyuz-type spacecraft rather than Vostok-type and no debris was detected following de-orbit/recovery. The mission of Cosmos 1944 was loosely described as topo graphical and these satellites may prove to be the successors of the earlier special sub-set of third generation satellites believed to have geodetic roles.
Table 39 lists the Cosmos satellite launches in Johnson's special sub-set from 1984 through 1987.
TABLE 39.—SPECIAL SUB-SET OF FOURTH GENERATION COSMOS PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE
SATELLITES: 1984-1987
Cosmos number and designator Launch date and site Apogee Perigee Incl. Period Life
1673 85-68A ............. 8/8/85 TT .................. 273 198 64.8 89.2 42
1784 86-77A ............... 10/6/86 TT ................... 275 216 64.8 89.4 36
1865 87-58A ............... 7/8/87 TT .................. 268 208 64.8 89.3 37
1896 87-93A ............... 11/14/87 TT ..................... 267 209 64.8 89.3 41
1608 84-116A ..................... 11/14/84 TT 251 197 70.0 89.0 33
Notes:
- All satellites were launched by the A-2.
- Apogee and perigee heights in kilometers, inclination in degrees, orbital period in minutes, and lifetime to recovery in integer days.
- Orbital data, which may differ from that given in the Master Log, has been computed from two line orbital element sets provided by NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center. - Table prepared for the Congressional Research Service by G. E. Perry.
Fifth Generation Long-Duration Missions
The Kettering Group, despite repeated attempts, has failed to intercept any radio transmissions from the satellites which fly mis sions with durations of six months or more before being de-orbited. It must be presumed that the digital image return from these satel lites is at gigahertz frequencies.
Single missions in the years 1984 and 1985 spanned the months in the middle of those years. From the launch of Cosmos 1731 on February 7, 1986, a fifth generation satellite was in orbit at all times through the end of 1987. For 58 days in 1986 and from April 16 through December 2, 1987, two fifth generation satellites were in orbit simultaneously. During this latter period, Cosmos 1881 was launched on the same day that Cosmos 1810 was recovered after a record-breaking 259-day mission. It was noticeable that during the period when Cosmos 1836 and Cosmos 1881 were in orbit together, maneuvers to counteract orbital decay by raising the apogees oc curred at around the same time. The orbital plane separation of these two satellites was close to 90° as were those for Cosmos 17707 Cosmos 1810 and Cosmos 1810/1836. This was achieved by timing the launch of Cosmos 1881 to ensure that it was placed precisely into the same plane as Cosmos 1810, which it was replacing. The plane separation of Cosmos 1731/Cosmos 1770 in 1986 was approximately 160°
Cosmos 1543, launched on October 10, 1984, and Cosmos 1713, launched on December 27, 1985, do not fall into any of the categories described so far. Both missions lasted for 26 days and originat ed from Plesetsk at 62.8° inclination. Apogee and perigee heights close to 385 km and 216 km closely matched those of Cosmos 1645 and Cosmos 1841, which were announced as materials processing missions and, in view of the 30-day mission durations offered commercially for Foton (see chapter X), it is quite possible that these were missions related to that program.
Table 40 lists the Cosmos satellite launches in this category from 1984 through 1987.
TABLE 40.—FIFTH GENERATION COSMOS PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES: 1984-1987
Cosmos number and designator Launch date and site Apogee Perigee Incl. Period Life
1552 ............ 84-45A ................... 5/14/84 TT 322 182 64.9 89.5 173
1643 ............ 85-26A ................... 3/25/85 TT 294 223 64.8 89.7 207
1731 ............ 86-13A ................... 2/7/86 TT 269 183 64.8 89.0 238
1770 ............ 86-60A ................... 8/6/86 TT 281 238 64.8 89.7 180
1810 ............ 86-102A ................. 12/26/86 TT 279 182 64.8 89.1 259
1836 ........... 87-33A ................... 4/16/87 TT 293 241 64.8 89.9 230
1881 ............ 87-76A ................... 9/11/87 TT 276 231 64.8 89.6 201
Notes:
- All satellites were launched by the A-2.
- Apogee and perigee heights in kilometers, inclination in degrees, orbital period in minutes, and lifetime to recovery in integer days.
- Orbital data, which may differ from that given in the Master Log, has been computed from two line orbital element sets provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
- Table prepared for the Congressional Research Service by G. E. Perry.
Degree of Photographic Coverage
Table 41 summarizes the degree of photographic reconnaissance coverage obtained by the Soviet's on a day-to-day basis from 1984-1987. Two sets of data are provided. The second set, in parentheses, includes the possible dual role recoverable photographic remote sensing satellites, described in chapter 3 and listed in table 20.
It will be seen that with the exception of three days in 1984, or one day only if the remote sensing satellites are included, the Soviet Union has had a year-round photographic reconnaissance capability. With the exception of 1985, three or more photographic reconnaissance satellites were in orbit simultaneously for the greater part of each year and in 1987, even without the inclusion of the remote sensing satellites, six satellites were in orbit simultaneously on nine days.
The numbers in bold type attempt to account for the coverage provided by having more than one satellite in orbit at a time by computing mission-days as the product of the multiplication of the number of days by the number of satellites in orbit simultaneously on those days.
Identification of Possible Targets
As has already been mentioned in chapter 1, attempting to iden tify the photographic target(s) of a particular mission is a hazard ous pastime, particularly with prolonged crisis periods such as the conflict in the Persian Gulf and the Soviet occupation of Afghani stan. The annual Soviet Year in Space reports produced by Nicho las Johnson does attempt such identification and table 42 summa rizes the findings of those reports.
OBSERVATIONS BY COSMONAUTS
As has been stated in the historical summary in chapter 1 of this part of the report and described in some detail in part I, 6 cosmonauts in Soyuz spacecraft and onboard the Salyut and Mir space stations make routine photographic observations of areas of par ticular interest using cameras such as the KATE-140 and MKF-6. Although no specific instances have been reported during 1984- 1987, it would be surprising if the cosmonauts (the majority of whom are, or have been at some time, active military personnel) did not, on occasion take photographs and make visual observa tions at the request of the military command.
Recoverable Photographic Satellites
First indications of a series of film-return satellites with the ob jective of obtaining photographic data relating to the breakup of Arctic ice on the sea routes along the Soviet Union's northern coastline came in 1968 when two satellites, Cosmos 210 and Cosmos 214, flew at a new inclination of 81.3°. Both launches occurred in April and were not repeated that year. Further flights with this near-polar inclination followed in succeeding years, usually in pairs during April, but with each member of the pair having different resolution characteristics. As time passed, other flights appeared with this inclination at different times of the year, often associated with secondary scientific missions. One of these, Cosmos 771 in Sep tember/October 1975, was the first recoverable Cosmos satellite to employ a TK Morse code recovery beacon since the phasing out of the second generation photoreconnaissance satellites some two years earlier. These TKs came to be characteristic of high resolu tion missions with a photographic arc at a height of 220 km whereas TF recovery beacons were associated with lower resolution mis sions at 275 km through the photographic arc.
The launch announcement for Cosmos 912 in May 1977, identi fied its mission as continuing "the study of the Earth in the inter ests of different sectors of the national economy of the Soviet Union, and international co-operation." More and more such iden tifications appeared with the passage of time. Some of these incor porated the statement that "the incoming information is being turned over to the Priroda State Scientific Research and Produc tion Center for processing and use."
A change of inclination to 82.3° took place in May 1980, with the launch of Cosmos 1182 and flights continue at this inclination to this day. There were seven such flights in 1981, seven more in 1982 and nine in 1983. Satellites of this type constitute the Resurs-F subset of the large state-wide Resurs (Resources) system.
A figure illustrating an article on Earth resources satellites in 1980 depicts a three-tiered system in which Salyut space stations operate at a level between the higher Meteor-Priroda type spacecraft and the lower film-return Cosmos satellites. 51 The latter are depicted as having cylindrical instrument and engine sections supporting, in front, a capsule formed from two cones joined base to base with the one attached to the cylinder being truncated at ap proximately half its height. While this is obviously schematic and should be accepted with caution, it must be pointed out that the portrayals of the Salyut and Meteor-Priroda are good representa tions of the actual spacecraft.
The use of crews on space stations for remote sensing is dealt with in volume 1 of this report.
References:
A . SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS: 1981-87, SPACE SCIENCE, SPACE APPLICATIONS, MILITARY SPACE PROGRAMS, ADMINISTRATION, RESOURCE BURDEN, AND MASTER LOG OF SPACEFLIGHTS, Part 2, April 1989, Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C. 1989, Committee print 1981-87- part-2
1. Johnson, N. L. and D. J. Nauer. History of On-Orbit Satellite Fragmentations. 3rd ed., Tele- dyne Brown Engineering, Colorado Springs, CO., 1987.
2. See table 30 in chapter 3. 3. Eberst, R. J. Private communication.
4. The RAE Table of Earth Satellites, Up-date, July 11, 1988, p. 949b.
5 Johnson, N. L. Private communication.
6. Soviet Space Programs: 1981-87, Part 1, p. 46-49, 90.
51 Kiyenko, Yu P. Issledovaniye Zemli iz Kosmosa
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