Moment space surveillance complex
| Moment | |
|---|---|
| Момент | |
| Part of 821st Main Space Intelligence Centre | |
| Moscow Oblast | |
| Site information | |
| Condition | testing |
| Site history | |
| Built | 2003 |
Moment (Russian: Момент, from Latin: momentum, meaning in English: short time[1]) is a Russian military space surveillance complex. It is used to monitor radio emissions from space craft and satellites, a form of electronic intelligence gathering. It is run by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces as part of their 821st Main Space Intelligence Centre (SKKP) which operates the space surveillance network. It was put into service for experimental combat duty in 2003. [2][3]
Moment originated with the Russian military company Vympel. They published a draft design for the system in 1989, along with other space surveillance technologies, including the Krona space object recognition station and the Laser Optical Locator.[4]:265 Work on the Moment complex itself started in 1991. Moment's design work was done by Experimental Design Bureau MEI (Russian: ОКБ МЭИ) under lead designer K. A. Pobedonostsev. MEI was founded as part of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and undertakes work on antennae, telemetry and other radio and space related technologies.[5] It is part of the JSC Russian Space Systems. Their work on Moment was done under contract to Vympel.[4]:139
Moment was put into experimental combat duty on 20 March 2003, and as of 2012 has yet to be formally commissioned. It works passively, picking up radio transmissions from spacecraft and satellites which it can use to locate them, and to discern other things about them.[4]:197 MEI have produced similar systems such as the civilian RIDM.[6][7]
Moment has been installed somewhere in the Moscow Oblast, and is moveable.[4]:197 It may be co-located with the Centre for Space Monitoring at Noginsk-9. It has the GRAU index 14G6 (14Г6)[8]
References
- ↑
The dictionary definition of momentum at Wiktionary - ↑ Denisov, Vitaliy (2007). "Russia's Great Power Status Said Boosted By Space Monitoring Effort". Red Orbit. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
- ↑ Anisimov, V D; Batir, G S; Menshikov, A V; Shilin, V D (2006-10-04). Система контроля космического пространства Российской Федерации [The System of Space Monitoring of the Russian Federation] (in Russian). Vympel. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
- 1 2 3 4 Sourcebook on the Okno (в/ч 52168), Krona (в/ч 20096) and Krona-N (в/ч 20776) Space Surveillance Sites (PDF). Federation of American Scientists. 2008-12-30. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ↑ ОАО "ОКБ МЭИ" (in Russian). OKB MEI. 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ↑ Корреляционно-фазовые пеленгаторы [Correlation-phase direction finders] (in Russian). OKB MEI. 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ↑ Корреляционно-фазовые пеленгаторы Ритм и КФП Ритм-М [Correlation-phase direction finders RITM and RITM-M] (in Russian). OKB MEI. 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
- ↑ Приложение к протоколу заседания конкурсной комиссии оценки и сопоставления заявок на размещение государственного оборонного заказа на МНР и совместное техническое обслуживание ПРТК 14Г6 "Момент" [Appendix to the minutes of the meeting of the competition committee evaluation and comparison of bids for the placement of the state defence order for the MNR and joint maintenance PRTK 14G6 "Moment"] (in Russian). Enotpoiskun.ru. 2008. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
