Araks ( GRAU Index - 11F664 ) is a Russian heavy optical-electronic reconnaissance satellite. Developed by S.A. Lavochkin NGO .
| Araks | |
|---|---|
| Total information | |
| Developer |   NGO named after Lavochkina |
| Manufacturer | |
| Country of origin | Russia |
| Appointment | SPA |
| Orbit | Low Earth Orbit |
| Operator | USSR Armed Forces Space Forces of Russia |
| Production and operation | |
| Total built | 2 |
| Total running | 2 |
| Crash in orbit | one |
| First start | 06.06 . 1997 |
| Last run | 07/25 . 2002 UTC |
| Breeding facility | Proton-K / DM-5 |
Content
Development
The project to create a satellite for reconnaissance intelligence, designed to replace the satellites of the Neman series, was launched at the Lavochkin NGO in 1977. In 1983, the project was approved, the first start was planned in 1987. The main problem remained the production of mirrors for the telescope, since the Soviet industry had not yet produced such products. With the collapse of the USSR, the project was stopped until 1997 due to lack of funding [1] .
The large mass of the spacecraft (about 7500 kg) required the development of a special modification of the upper stage , called DM-5 [1] .
Operation
The first device was launched on June 6, 1997 and received the designation Cosmos-2344 . Immediately after putting into orbit, one of the two batteries of the device failed. Because of this, operators had to constantly turn on and off the heating system when the device entered the Earth’s shadow zone to save the remaining battery life. Four months after the launch, in October 1997, operators forgot to turn off the heaters, which led to a complete discharge of the battery. Communication with the device was lost [1] .
The second device was launched on July 25, 2002 and received the designation Cosmos-2392 . The parameters of the calculated orbit were: altitude 1500x1835.6 km, inclination 63.44 °, orbital period 119.7 minutes. In the spring of 2003, it was used to monitor the US invasion of Iraq. The device stopped working in the summer of 2003 due to loss of tightness of the instrument compartment.
It was planned to build a third apparatus from the parts remaining from the test prototypes, but in the end it was not built. [2]
Features
The cost of one Araks spacecraft is about 100 million rubles (5 times more than the Neman spacecraft). The period of operation in orbit is about three years. [3] [4]
The device was equipped with a telescope with a mirror with a diameter of 1.5 m, manufactured by the St. Petersburg company LOMO . [2]
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Araks (11F664) military spacecraft . Russian Space Web. Date of treatment March 30, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 Gunter Dirk Krebs. Araks 1, 2 (11F664) Gunter's Space Page. Date of treatment November 7, 2011. Archived February 4, 2012.
- ↑ Kommersant Newspaper - Another spy sent by the Ministry of Defense
- ↑ TsSKB-Progress expects 25 billion rubles - the Volzhskaya Kommuna newspaper. © 2013
Links
- Gunter Dirk Krebs. Araks 1, 2 (11F664) Gunter's Space Page. Date of treatment November 7, 2011. Archived February 4, 2012.
- Araks (11F664) military spacecraft . Russian Space Web. Date of treatment March 30, 2016.