US-KMO

US-KMO

US-KMO

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US-KMO (Russian: УС-КМО), [note 1] is a series of Russian, previously Soviet, satellites which are used to identify ballistic missile launches. They provide early warning of missile attack and give information for the Moscow A-135 anti-ballistic missile system. They were run by the Russian Space Forces and it was succeeded by the Aerospace Defence Forces.

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These satellites are part of the Oko programme and are in geosynchronous orbit 35,750 km above the Earth's equator. This means that they are always in the same place with the same field of view. Western locations give Russia coverage of missile launches in the United States whereas more eastern ones give coverage of China and the Middle East.[2] They complement ground-based early warning radars and the US-K satellites which are in molniya orbits.

The first prototype satellite was launched on 8 October 1975, atop a Proton-K/DM-2 carrier rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The most recent, and last of the series, was launched on 30 March 2012.[3] As of December 2015, the entire Oko programme is being replaced by the new EKS system.[4][5][6]

Technical information

US-KMO satellites were built by NPO Lavochkin. They feature a 1-metre diameter infrared telescope with a 4.5 metre hood which identifies missiles by their exhausts.[1] They have an operational life of 5 to 7 years, although actual performance has been variable.

The satellites have the GRAU index 71Kh6.

The Oko western control centre is at Serpukhov-15, Moscow Oblast[7] although Podvig notes [8] that satellites in the 3 easternmost positions would be out of range of this centre, and would be controlled by the eastern control centre at Pivan-1, Khabarovsk Krai.[9]

Naming

24°W
24°W
12°E
12°E
35°E
35°E
80°E
80°E
130°E
130°E
166°E
166°E
159°W
159°W
Location of the seven satellite positions above the equator

These satellites have been mistakenly described as Prognoz (unrelated to the earlier Prognoz SO-M programme)[8] as the positions they occupy are reserved with the ITU under the codename Prognoz.[8][10]

More information Location Name, Longitude ...

Satellites

More information Satellite, COSPAR ID ...

See also

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    an abbreviation for Upravlyaemy Sputnik - Kontinenty Morya Okeany (Russian: Управляемый Спутник - Континенты Моря Океаны) meaning Controllable Satellite - Continents, Oceans, Seas

References

  1. [1]
    "Hartron-Arkos:Control Systems for Space and Ground Applications". Hartron-Arkos. n.d. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-04-21.
  2. [2]
    Pavel, Podvig (2010-04-28). "Early warning system is down to three satellites". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  3. [3]
    Graham, William (2012-03-29). "Russian Proton-K completes 45 years of service with US-KMO satellite launch". NASA Spaceflight. Archived from the original on 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  4. [4]
    "Soyuz 2-1B launches EKS-1 to upgrade Russian Early Warning System". 17 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-12-20. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  5. [5]
    Pavel, Podvig (2012-03-30). "Cosmos-2479 - new geostationary early warning satellite". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  6. [6]
    Christy, Robert (n.d.). "2012-012". Zarya. Archived from the original on 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  7. [7]
    Holm, Michael (2011). "916th independent Radio-Technical Unit". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. Archived from the original on 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  8. [8]
    Podvig, Pavel (2002). "History and the Current Status of the Russian Early-Warning System" (PDF). Science and Global Security. 10 (1): 21–60. Bibcode:2002S&GS...10...21P. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.692.6127. doi:10.1080/08929880212328. ISSN 0892-9882. S2CID 122901563. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-15.
  9. [9]
    Holm, Michael (2011). "1127th independent Radio-Technical Unit". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. Archived from the original on 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2012-04-22.
  10. [10]
    Krebs, Gunther Dirk (2012-03-30). "US-KMO (71Kh6)". Gunther's Space Page. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  11. [11]
    Pavel, Podvig (2003-11-28). "Problems with Russian military satellites". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  12. [12]
    Pavel, Podvig (2012-09-02). "Only two satellites left in Russia's early-warning system". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
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