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Tellura-EKO

The Salyut Design Bureau of the Khrunichev State Space Scientific Production Center, with its long history of development of large spacecraft, proposed in 1991 an unmanned, free-flying space station named Tellura-EKO. Based on the current series of augmentation modules designed for the Mir space station, Tellura-EKO would have a total mass of approximately 20 metric tons, which would be available for the remote sensing payload. With a basic maximum diameter of 4.4 m and a length of 12 m, the vehicle would use two large solar arrays to generate up to 5 kW of electrical power. The Tellura-EKO program would consist of:

• "a Accommodation on its board and placing into orbit home and foreign made scientific and special purpose equipment, including:
  a) unified multi-frequency lidar complex;
  
  b) TV-complex;
  
  c) radio and spectrometry complexes;
  
  d) detachable container with synthetic substances (clouds) sources.

  Recording and transmitting to Earthhydrometeorological, geophysical and ecological information stipulated for by a potential partner, i.e.:

  -size, structure and concentration of atmospheric aerosol stratification layers, velocity and direction of their displacement;

  -atmospheric concentration of poisonous sulphurous, ammonia, and nitric gaseous combinations;

  -ozone concentration vertical distribution with 1 km altitude resolu-tion in the range of 10 to 80 km;

  -wind altitude and spatial parameters measurement with 1 km resolution in the range of altitudes from 3-50 km;

  -cloud top altitude measurement with 10 to 100 m accuracy;

  -cloud cross-section with 300 to 1200 m spacing and fleecy clouds registering with 150 m altitude and 1-5 km horizontal accuracy;

  -tropospheric and stratospheric aerosol distribution with 300 to 2400 m altitude and 1000 to 1500 m horizontal spacing;

  -atmospheric temperature and density in the altitude range 30 to 100 km with respective accuracy of 2 to 8 degrees K and 2 to 4%;

  -slight sodium, potassium, lithium, asrv well as potassium, magnesium and fermium ion and mixtures at the altitude of 80 to 100 km with 20 to 60% accuracy;

  -ionosphere and magnetosphere condition, solar activity, etc.

  Processing the accumulated information and delivering it to the user in a generalized form - photographs, photomontage, positives, duplicate negatives, digital information, tape-recorded information through communication links, topical maps and charts, etc." (Reference 723).

The 1991 description of Tellura-EKO predicted a first flight as early as 1994 with Western participation. A development investment of 90 million dollars was estimated but operational costs for the period of 1995-1998 were predicted to be only 8 million dollars. The total lifetime of the spacecraft could be up to five years at an altitude of 400-450 km and inclinations of 52-72 degrees.