| Manufacturer | RKK Energia (bus) and TsNII Kometa (payload.)[1] |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Russia[1] |
| Operator | Kosmicheskie Voyska Rossii (Cosmic Forces, Russia) |
| Applications | Early warning ofmissile attack |
| Specifications | |
| Bus | PossiblyUSP (Victoria)[1] |
| Power | Deployablesolar arrays |
| Batteries | Yes |
| Equipment | Militaryearly warning system and a reported secure emergency communications payload to be used in case of anuclear war.[1] |
| Regime | Molniya |
| Production | |
| Status | Active |
| On order | 3 |
| Launched | 6 |
| Operational | 6 |
| Retired | 0 |
| Maiden launch | EKS 1 / Tundra-11L, 17 November 2015[2] |
| Last launch | EKS 6 / Tundra-16L, 25 November 2022 |
EKS (Russian:Единая космическая система,romanized:Edinaya Kosmicheskaya Sistema meaning Integrated Cosmos System[3])Kupol (Russian:Купол meaning Dome[4]) is a developing[2] programme of Russianearly warning satellites as a replacement for theUS-KMO andUS-K satellites of theOko programme.[5]: 7 The satellites are designed to identify any possible future ballistic missile launches, from outer space, and complement early warning radars such as theVoronezh. This gives advance notice of a nuclear attack and would provide information to theA-135 missile defence system which protects Moscow, as well as other Russianmissile defense and counterattack resources. Six satellites are planned to be initially orbited.[1] The first of these was launched on 17 November 2015[2] and as of November 2022[update], all six of them are in service.[6]
EKS has been designated to detect and track ballistic missiles launched towards Russia or its allies.[7] The systems have been designed as a replacement for the current system of early warning satellites calledOko, which had its first launch in 1972[8]: 36 [9] and was described in 2005 as "hopelessly outdated".[10] Oko has two types of satellites:US-KMO are ingeosynchronous orbits and have aninfrared telescope to identify ballistic missile launches.[11]US-K are inMolniya orbits and are an earlier model with optical telescopes and infrared sensors.[12] The Oko system has two control centres with the main one beingSerpukhov-15 outside Moscow.[8]: 40 [8]: 52
Oko is part of theMain Centre for Missile Attack Warning[13] which is under the Space Command (KK) of theRussian Aerospace Defence Forces.[14]
In 2014,Kommersant published that the first satellite, of a type named Tundra, would be launched in 2014. According to that report they would operate on highly elliptical orbits. The satellite was not launched in 2014, however.[15] It was eventually launched from thePlesetsk Cosmodrome on 17 November 2015, using aSoyuz 2.1b rocket with aFregat stage, under the name EKS-1 / Tundra-11L.[2][16] (GRAU designation: 14F142[17]) In November 2022, the sixth satellite was orbited.[1][6]
Information on the new EKS system is scarce but it appears that it was designed byEnergia Corp in 1999-2000 and was selected against a proposal fromOko manufacturerNPO Lavochkin.[18] The Russian Ministry of Defence awarded the contract to Energia in 2007 with an expected delivery date of 2008, for a test launch in 2009.[19] In 2009, it was reported to be delayed until late 2011/early 2012.[20] In 2011, the Russian MoD sued Energia for the delay, claiming that a contract extension issued until May 2010 was invalid and asking for 262 millionrubles in compensation.[21] According to news reports Energia said that the contract extension was valid and that the problem was with their subcontractors.[21] In addition, they said that the Russian MoD kept changing the specification and demanding things that were beyond the capabilities of the industry.[21] The Russian MoD lost the court case.Energia delivered a satellite in 2009 but as of April 2012 there had not been a test launch.[19]
In April 2012, the minister Alexander Sukhorukov announced that a contract had been signed to manufacture these satellites and that there would be a launch later in 2012.[22] The last satellites of the previous Oko system wereKosmos 2479,[23] launched on 30 March 2012, andKosmos 2469, launched on 30 September 2010.[24]
The first EKS satellite (Kosmos 2510, EKS-1, Tundra 11L) was eventually launched fromPlesetsk on 17 November 2015 using aSoyuz-2.1b rocket[2] and as of May 2020[update] there were four in service which is the minimum standard strength.[25][26] A fifth one was launched in November 2021 to start the expansion of the system capabilities. In November 2022, the initial constellation of six satellites was completed.[6]
| Satellite[1] | COSPAR international designator | NORAD catalog # | Orbit | Launch Date | End Date | Estimated Operational Life |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kosmos 2510 (EKS 1) (Tundra 11L) | 2015-066A | 41032 | Molniya[27] 38552 x 1626 km, 63.37° | 17 November 2015 | Active | |
| Kosmos 2518 (EKS 2) (Tundra 12L) | 2017-027A | 42719 | Molniya[28] 38552 x 1626 km, 63.37° | 25 May 2017 | Active[29] | |
| Kosmos 2541 (EKS 3) (Tundra 13L) | 2019-065A | 44552 | Molniya[30] 38537 x 1646 km, 63.83° | 26 September 2019 | Active | |
| Kosmos 2546 (EKS 4) (Tundra 14L) | 2020-031A | 45608 | Molniya[25] 35807 x 1654 km, 63.83° | 22 May 2020 | Active | |
| Kosmos 2552 (EKS 5) (Tundra 15L) | 2021-113A | 49503 | Molniya[31] 38761 x 1609 km, 63.83° | 25 November 2021 | Active | |
| Kosmos 2563 (EKS 6) (Tundra 16L) | 2022-145A | 54223 | Molniya[6] 38753 x 1596 km, 63.82° | 2 November 2022 | Active |
