EKS (satellite system)

Russian early warning satellites

EKS Kupol

Manufacturer| RKK Energia (bus) and
TsNII Kometa (payload.)[1]
Country of origin| Russia[1]
Operator| Kosmicheskie Voyska Rossii (Cosmic Forces, Russia)
Applications| Early warning of missile attack
Specifications
Bus| Possibly USP (Victoria)[1]
Power| Deployable solar arrays
Batteries| Yes
Equipment| Military early warning system and
a reported secure emergency communications payload
to be used in case of a nuclear war.[1]
Regime| Molniya
Production
Status| Active
On order| 3
Launched| 6
Operational| 6
Retired| 0
Maiden launch| EKS 1 / Tundra-11L,
17 November 2015[2]
Last launch| EKS 6 / Tundra-16L,
25 November 2022

EKS (Russian: Единая космическая система, romanized: Edinaya Kosmicheskaya Sistema meaning Integrated Cosmos System [3]) Kupol (Russian: Купол meaning Dome[4]) is a developing[2] programme of Russian early warning satellites as a replacement for the US-KMO and US-K satellites of the Oko programme.[5]: 7  The satellites are designed to identify any possible future ballistic missile launches, from outer space, and complement early warning radars such as the Voronezh. This gives advance notice of a nuclear attack and would provide information to the A-135 missile defence system which protects Moscow, as well as other Russian missile defense and counterattack resources. Six satellites are planned to be initially orbited.[1] The first of these was launched on 17 November 2015[2] and as of November 2022[update], all six of them are in service.[6]

## Background

[edit]

EKS has been designated to detect and track ballistic missiles launched towards Russia or its allies.[7] The systems have been designed as a replacement for the current system of early warning satellites called Oko, which had its first launch in 1972 [8]: 36 [9] and was described in 2005 as "hopelessly outdated".[10] Oko has two types of satellites: US-KMO are in geosynchronous orbits and have an infrared telescope to identify ballistic missile launches.[11] US-K are in Molniya orbits and are an earlier model with optical telescopes and infrared sensors.[12] The Oko system has two control centres with the main one being Serpukhov-15 outside Moscow.[8]: 40 [8]: 52

Oko is part of the Main Centre for Missile Attack Warning[13] which is under the Space Command (KK) of the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.[14]

In 2014, Kommersant published that the first satellite, of a type named Tundra, would be launched in 2014. According to that report they would operate on highly elliptical orbits. The satellite was not launched in 2014, however.[15] It was eventually launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 17 November 2015, using a Soyuz 2.1b rocket with a Fregat stage, under the name EKS-1 / Tundra-11L.[2][16] (GRAU designation: 14F142[17]) In November 2022, the sixth satellite was orbited.[1][6]

## Timeline

[edit]

Information on the new EKS system is scarce but it appears that it was designed by Energia Corp in 1999-2000 and was selected against a proposal from Oko manufacturer NPO Lavochkin.[18] The Russian Ministry of Defence awarded the contract to Energia in 2007 with an expected delivery date of 2008, for a test launch in 2009.[19] In 2009, it was reported to be delayed until late 2011/early 2012.[20] In 2011, the Russian MoD sued Energia for the delay, claiming that a contract extension issued until May 2010 was invalid and asking for 262 million rubles in compensation.[21] According to news reports Energia said that the contract extension was valid and that the problem was with their subcontractors.[21] In addition, they said that the Russian MoD kept changing the specification and demanding things that were beyond the capabilities of the industry.[21] The Russian MoD lost the court case. Energia delivered a satellite in 2009 but as of April 2012 there had not been a test launch.[19]

In April 2012, the minister Alexander Sukhorukov announced that a contract had been signed to manufacture these satellites and that there would be a launch later in 2012.[22] The last satellites of the previous Oko system were Kosmos 2479,[23] launched on 30 March 2012, and Kosmos 2469, launched on 30 September 2010.[24]

The first EKS satellite (Kosmos 2510, EKS-1, Tundra 11L) was eventually launched from Plesetsk on 17 November 2015 using a Soyuz-2.1b rocket[2] and as of May 2020[update] there were four in service which is the minimum standard strength.[25][26] A fifth one was launched in November 2021 to start the expansion of the system capabilities. In November 2022, the initial constellation of six satellites was completed.[6]

## Satellites

[edit]

Satellite[1] | COSPAR international designator | NORAD catalog # | Orbit | Launch Date | End Date | Estimated Operational Life

|
|
|
|
|
|

Kosmos 2510 (EKS 1) (Tundra 11L) | 2015-066A | 41032 | Molniya[27] 38552 x 1626 km, 63.37° | 17 November 2015 | Active |
Kosmos 2518 (EKS 2) (Tundra 12L) | 2017-027A | 42719 | Molniya[28] 38552 x 1626 km, 63.37° | 25 May 2017 | Active[29] |
Kosmos 2541 (EKS 3) (Tundra 13L) | 2019-065A | 44552 | Molniya[30] 38537 x 1646 km, 63.83° | 26 September 2019 | Active |
Kosmos 2546 (EKS 4) (Tundra 14L) | 2020-031A | 45608 | Molniya[25] 35807 x 1654 km, 63.83° | 22 May 2020 | Active
Kosmos 2552 (EKS 5) (Tundra 15L) | 2021-113A | 49503 | Molniya[31] 38761 x 1609 km, 63.83° | 25 November 2021 | Active  |
Kosmos 2563 (EKS 6) (Tundra 16L) | 2022-145A | 54223 | Molniya[6] 38753 x 1596 km, 63.82° | 2 November 2022 | Active  |

Animation of EKS with 4 satellites

Equatorial view

Polar view

Earth fixed frame, front view

Earth fixed frame, side view

Kosmos 2510 ·    Kosmos 2518 ·    Kosmos 2541 ·    Kosmos 2546 ·   Earth

## References

[edit]

* Spaceflight portal

1. ^ a b c d e f g "Gunter's Space Page - Tundra (EKS, 14F142)". Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
2. ^ a b c d e "Soyuz 2-1B launches EKS-1 to upgrade Russian Early Warning System". 17 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
3. ^ Hendrickx, Bart (8 February 2021). "EKS: Russia's space-based missile early warning system". The Space Review. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
4. ^ "Российскую систему предупреждения о ракетном нападении назвали "Купол"" [Russian missile early warning system has been named Dome.] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
5. ^ Podvig, Pavel; Zuang, Hui (2008). Russian and Chinese Responses to US Military Plans in Space (PDF). Cambridge, Massachusetts: American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ISBN 978-0-87724-068-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
6. ^ a b c d Zak, Anatoly (2 November 2022). "Soyuz launches a missile-detection satellite". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
7. ^ Path, Neal (5 June 2020). "Russia sets up ballistic missile early warning satellite grouping to monitor the US". International Insider. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
8. ^ a b c 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 15 March 2012.
9. ^ Zak, Anatoly (18 April 2012). "Oko early-warning satellite". Russianspaceweb.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
10. ^ Podvig, Pavel (21 November 2005). "Hopelessly outdated". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
11. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "US-KMO (71Kh6)". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
12. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "US-KS (74Kh6)". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
13. ^ Podvig, Pavel (30 January 2012). "Early Warning". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
14. ^ "Structure". Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. n.d. Archived from the original on 7 December 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
15. ^ Pavel, Podvig (19 July 2014). "New-generation early-warning satellite, Tundra, to be launched in 2014". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
16. ^ "Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket successfully launches Tundra satellite". SpaceflightInsider.com. 17 November 2015. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
17. ^ Safronov Jr, Ivan (26 May 2017). ""Тундра" в сосновом бору" ["Tundra" in a pine forest] (in Russian). Kommersant. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
18. ^ Podvig, Pavel (22 August 2007). "Russia is working on new early-warning satellites". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
19. ^ a b Podvig, Pavel (18 August 2011). "New generation early-warning satellite turned up in court". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
20. ^ Podvig, Pavel (29 April 2009). "Early-warning satellites - old and new". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
21. ^ a b c Safronov Jr, Ivan (17 August 2011). "Военные проиграли космический иск космической корпорации" [The military lost a space corporation space suit] (in Russian). Kommersant. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
22. ^ "Минобороны РФ заключило контракты на создание спутников для отслеживания ракетных запусков" [Defence ministry signed contracts to build satellites to track missile launches]. ITAR-TASS. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
23. ^ "Oko Satellite successfully delivered to Orbit". Spaceflight 101. 30 March 2012. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
24. ^ Pavel, Podvig (30 March 2012). "Cosmos-2479 - new geostationary early warning satellite". Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
25. ^ a b "Soyuz rocket launches Russian missile warning satellite". spaceflightnow.com. SFN. 22 May 2020. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
26. ^ "Missile warning satellites cluster Kupol brought to minimum standard strength". Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
27. ^ "Russia's 1st EKS Missile Warning Satellite enters surprising Orbit". Spaceflight 101. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
28. ^ "Russia's Soyuz launches EKS Missile Warning Satellite, ends Year-Long Military Launch Gap". Spaceflight 101. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
29. ^ "Запущен второй спутник Единой космической системы". 26 May 2017. Archived from the original on 28 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
30. ^ "Russia orbits missile-detection satellite". www.russianspaceweb.com. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
31. ^ "Russia launches a missile-detection satellite". russianspaceweb.com. Zak. 25 November 2021. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.

## Sources

[edit]

* Bart Hendrick (Monday, February 8, 2021) EKS: Russia’s space-based missile early warning system the Space Review
* definition of the word: cosmos Cambridge University Dictionary Online

## External links

[edit]

* The EKS system at Anatoly Zak's Russian Space Web

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