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Okean

In the late 1970's the USSR began testing a series of new instruments which would complement the standard meteorological payloads while at the same time would provide specific data on ocean and ice conditions. The heavy reliance of the USSR on its merchant marine fleet for both domestic and international commerce, particularly in the northern latitudes which are subject to extreme environmental conditions, prompted the State Committee on Hydrometeorology to develop specialized spacecraft capable of providing direct operational assistance to ships at sea as well as to a host of other government agencies and civilian and military organizations.

After testing various equipment on four spacecraft (Kosmos 1076, Kosmos 1151, Interkosmos 20, and Interkosmos 21) launched during 1979-1981, the first prototype Okean satellite (Okean-OE) was orbited in 1983 as Kosmos 1500 and was followed by Kosmos 1602 (1984), Kosmos 1766 (1986), and Kosmos 1869 (1987). The first operational spacecraft (Okean-O) was launched in 1988 as Okean 1 and was joined in 1990 by Okean 2.

This Okean-O program is designed

• "to estimate the potential reserves of the energy of tides and the accumulated energy of solar radiation;
• to study the World Ocean as a global damper and regulator of heat and moisture content of the atmosphere;
• to detect zones of upwelling and higher bioproductivity;
• to study subsurface circular eddies and their effect on the formation of destructive cyclones and typhoons;
• to ensure the safety of navigation and control of the ice situation in the Arctic and Antarctic;
• to study the dynamics of sea currents, and the processes of self-purification of seawater and cleansing of river effluents; and
• to control the intensity of pollution of the oceans with oil and oil product discharges."

Okean spacecraft with their electro-optical and radar sensors are designed and manufactured by the Ukranian Yuzhnoye Scientific Production Association of Dnepropetrovsk and are described in detail in the section on Ukranian Earth observation systems. Perhaps the last Russian-sponsored Okean spacecraft, Okean 4, was launched on 11 October 1994 by a Tsyklon-3 booster from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome into an orbit of 632 km by 666 km at an inclination of 82.5 degrees. Okean 4's predecessor, Okean 3, had ceased working in January of 1994 (References 668-669).

668. V.M. Agapov, Novosti Kosmonavtiki, 22 October - 4 November 1994, pp. 49-51.

669. NTV Television(Moscow), 11 October 1994.

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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