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Geosynchronous Earth Orbits

The Soviet use of geosynchronous satellites for telecommunications purposes did not begin until the mid-1970's. By the end of 1994 more than 100 communications and data relay spacecraft had been placed in geosynchronous orbits with 36 still operational near 27 positions along the geostationary ring. During 1993-1994 a total of 12 GEO communications spacecraft were deployed under six programnames: Raduga, Gorizont, Kosmos, Luch, Gals, and Express. The last two represented the maiden flights of the next generation Russian GEO communications spacecraft.

Russian GEO spacecraft differ from most other GEO satellites by their greater mass (22.5 metric tons in GEO), their lessor communications capacity, and, until 1994, their lack of north-south station-keeping ability. The last characteristic is evident in the continual variation of orbital inclinations (typically between 0-5 degrees) of Russian GEO satellites during their operational lifetimes. To minimize this effect, new satellites have been launched with initial GEO orbital inclinations of 1-2 degrees under strict conditions which take advantage of solar lunar perturbations first to reduce the inclination to zero over a period of one to two years before it increases. East-West station-keeping is accomplished with liquid propulsion or ion thrusters.

To date, the development of all Russian GEO communications satellites has been directed by the Applied Mechanics NPO under the leadership of Mikhail Reshetnev. The Radio NPO and the Institute of Space Device Engineering are the primary communications payload developers, and the Astra NPO is the principal supplier of ground stations and receivers. Although USSR/Russian satellites are often characterized by short lifetimes in comparison to analogous Western satellites, these Siberian made spacecraft exhibit normal mission lives of 5-10 years. All GEO satellites are transported to Baikonur for launch by the Proton boosters. With rare exceptions the spacecraft are inserted into GEO near 90 degrees E and allowed to drift east or west to their intended stations.

Raduga

Gorizont

Ekran-M

Geyser

Express

Luch

SovCanStar

Gals

Arkos

Gelikon

Romantis

Coupon

Zerkalo

Geostar-MSS

Kondor

Yamal

Telecom Platforms

Sources and Resources

• Adapted from: Europe and Asia in Space 1993-1994, Nicholas Johnson and David Rodvold [Kaman Sciences / Air Force Phillips Laboratory]

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