Space Command (Russian:Космическое командование) was the part of theRussian Aerospace Defence Forces responsible for military space-related activities. It was formed on 1 December 2011 when the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces were created as a merger of theRussian Space Forces with part of theRussian Air Force. Responsibilities of the command includedmissile attack warning,space surveillance and the control of military satellites. The use of the term Space Command may be influenced by theUnited States Space Command.
Space Command was one of four components of the Aerospace Defence Forces, the others wereAir and Missile Defence Command,Plesetsk Cosmodrome and thearsenal.[1][2] Subsumed under Space Command were three centres with their associated stations.[2][3][4]
One centre is the 153rdMain Trial Centre for Testing and Control of Space Means named after G.S. Titov. Located inKrasnoznamensk outside Moscow it is responsible for controlling Russia's militarysatellite constellation.[5] It is also responsible for the testing of new equipment and has a network of remote monitoring stations.[5]
The 820thMain Centre for Missile Attack Warning is the centre of Russia's missile attack warning network. It is located nearSolnechnogorsk outside Moscow. Subsumed under it are a number of radar stations, with two,Gabala andBalkhash, located outside Russia.[6][7][8]
The 821stMain Space Surveillance Centre is the centre of Russia'sspace surveillance network. It is located nearNoginsk outside Moscow. Subsumed under it are several space surveillance only facilities such asOkno andKrona. It also gets data from the early warning radars.[8][9]
An article byUnited Russia said that Space Command would consist of the entirety of the Space Forces,[10] however as implemented Plesetsk Cosmodrome, formerly part of the Space Forces, was not under Space Command.[2]