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Tselina 2

A successor to the Tselina D network, Tselina 2, began flight testing in 1984. Launched by Zenit-2 boosters from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, these more modern ELINTs are assessed to be capable of near realtime downlinks via Geyser geosynchronous spacecraft. (The first two missions were launched by the Proton-K booster before the Zenit-2 was available.) The higher altitude and lower inclination (71.0 degrees versus 82.6 degrees) of Tselina 2 as compared to Tselina D actually increase the frequency of detection in the temperate zones without sacrificing polar coverage. The Yuzhnoye NPO is responsible for both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft (References 67-68).

After nine launches (including one launch failure) during the first six years, the program was wrecked by three successive Zenit-2 launch failures between October, 1990, and February, 1992. The first mishap occurred after only three seconds into the flight and resulted in the complete destruction of the Zenit launch pad. The subsequent two failures were tracedto heating problems in the second stage mainengine. During this time the then-Soviet periodical Red Star acknowledged the mission of the Tselina 2 was to "verify the fulfillment of disarmament treaty commitments" (Reference 69).

Finally, in November and December, 1992, more than two years after the trio of Zenit-2 launch failures began, replenishment Tselina 2 spacecraft were successfully deployed under the guise of Kosmos 2219 and Kosmos 2227. Together with Kosmos 2082 (May, 1990), the new spacecraft formed a network of three orbital planes spaced approximately 45 degrees apart.

Two missions were attempted in each of 1993 and 1994, but the first of these spacecraft (Kosmos 2237, 26 March 1993) failed within a few days of launch. Initially, the malfunction was believed to have been caused by collision with a piece of debris from its Zenit-2 second stage. The stage had exploded shortly after reaching its desired orbit (as had Kosmos 2227's launch vehicle) due to unexpected side-effects of the fix implemented to solve the main-engine failures of 1991 and 1992 (Reference 70). An investigation later concluded that the Kosmos 2237 spacecraft itself was at fault.

The next three spacecraft (Kosmos 2263 in September, 1993; Kosmos 2278 in April, 1994; and Kosmos 2297 in November, 1994) experienced nominal deployments. However, a slight constellation alteration was apparently introduced. At the end of 1994 Kosmos 2227, 2263, 2278, and 2297 formed a regular network of orbital. planes spaced 40 degrees apart, rather than the earlier 45 degree separations.