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Oko

Although the first in-orbit tests of the Oko early warning spacecraft bus started with the launch of Kosmos 520 in 1972, the first missile detection sensors were reportedly not flown until 1976. The early Vidicon telescopes employed sensor diameters of 0.3-0.5 m with 4 degree fields-of-view for both IR (0.9-2.2 mm) wavelengths. Whereas the IR sensors successfully detected missiles in flight by late 1976, the UV sensors failed repeatedly during the 1976-1978 period and were then abandoned (Reference 86).

86. B. Kagan, Soviet ABM Early Warning System (Satellite-based Project M), Delphic Associates, Inc., 1991.

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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