Soviet space weapon prototype
The
Polyus
spacecraft (
Russian
:
Полюс
,
pole
), also known as
Polus
,
Skif-DM
,
GRAU
index
17F19DM
, was a prototype Soviet
orbital weapons platform
designed to destroy
Strategic Defense Initiative
satellites with a megawatt
carbon-dioxide laser
.
[1]
It had a
Functional Cargo Block
derived from a
TKS spacecraft
to control its orbit and it could launch test targets to demonstrate the fire control system.
History
[
edit
]
The Polyus spacecraft was launched 15 May 1987 from
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 250
as part of the first flight of the
Energia
system,
[2]
but failed to reach orbit.
According to Yuri Kornilov, Chief Designer of the Salyut Design Bureau, shortly before Polyus' launch,
Mikhail Gorbachev
visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome and expressly forbade the in-orbit testing of its capabilities. Kornilov claims that Gorbachev was worried that it would be possible for Western governments to view this activity as an attempt to create a weapon in space and that such an attempt would contradict the country's previous statements on the USSR's peaceful intent.
[3]
For technical reasons, the payload was launched upside down. It was designed to separate from the Energia, rotate 180 degrees in yaw, then 90 degrees in roll and then fire its engine to complete its boost to orbit. The Energia functioned perfectly, however, after separation from Energia, the Polyus spun a full 360 degrees instead of the planned 180 degrees. When the engine fired, it slowed the vehicle, which burned up over the south Pacific Ocean. This failure was attributed to a faulty
inertial guidance system
that had not been rigorously tested due to the rushed production schedule.
[4]
Parts of the Polyus project's hardware were re-used in
Kvant-2
,
Kristall
,
Spektr
and
Priroda
Mir
modules, as well as in the
ISS
modules
Zarya
and
Nauka
.
Development
[
edit
]
NPO
Energia
received orders from the
Soviet government
to begin research on space-based strike weapons in the mid-1970s. Even before, the USSR had been developing maneuverable satellites for the purpose of satellite interception. By the beginning of the 1980s,
Energia
had proposed two programs: laser-equipped
Skif
and guided missiles platform
Kaskad
(where
Skif
would cover the low-orbit targets,
Kaskad
engaged targets in high and geosynchronous orbits). Together with NPO
Astrofizika
and KB
Salyut
, they began developing their orbital weapons platform based on the
Salyut
DOS-17K frame.
Later, when the objective of ICBM interception proved too difficult, the aims of the project were shifted towards anti-satellite weapons. The 1983 announcement by the US of their
SDI program
prompted further political and financial support for the satellite interceptor program. In the nuclear exchange scenario, the interceptors would destroy the SDI satellites, followed by a so-called "pre-emptive retaliation" large-scale Soviet ICBM launch.
The laser chosen for the
Skif
spacecraft was a 1-megawatt
carbon dioxide laser
, developed for the
Beriev A-60
aircraft (an Il-76 flying laboratory with a combat laser). The introduction of the
Energia
, capable of launching about 95 tonnes into orbit, finally allowed the spacecraft to accommodate the massive laser. The massive exhaust of the carbon-dioxide laser precipitated the objective of making the laser "recoil-less". The
zero-torque exhaust system
(SBM) was developed to that end. Its testing in orbit meant the release of a large cloud of carbon dioxide, which would hint at the satellite's purpose. Instead, the xenon-krypton mix would be used to simultaneously test the SBM and perform an innocent experiment on Earth's
ionosphere
.
In 1985, the decision was made to test-launch the new
Energia
launch vehicle, which was still in the
testbed
phase. A 100-ton dummy payload was initially considered for the launch, but in a series of last-minute changes, it was decided that the almost-completed
Skif
spacecraft would be launched instead for a 30-day mission.
The development of the real
Skif
was completed in just one year, from September 1985 to September 1986. Testing and tweaking the
Energia
launch vehicle, the launch pad and the
Skif
itself moved the launch to February, and later to May 1987. According to Boris Gubanov, the head designer of the
Energia
launch vehicle, the work schedule of the preceding years was exhausting, and at the point of Mikhail Gorbachev's visit on 11 May, he asked the Soviet premier to clear the launch now, because "there will be heart attacks".
The catastrophic malfunction that led to
Skif
entering the atmosphere in the same area as
Energia's
second stage was successfully investigated. It was found that 568 seconds after launch, the timing control device gave the logical block a command to discard the side modules' covers and laser exhaust covers. Unknowingly, the same command was earlier used to open the solar panels and disengage the maneuvering thrusters. This was not discovered because of the logistics of the testing process and overall haste. Main thrusters engaged while the
Skif
kept turning, overshooting the intended 180-degree turn. The spacecraft lost speed and reverted to a
ballistic trajectory
.
Specifications
[
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]
- Length: 37.00 m (121.39 ft)
- Maximum diameter: 4.10 m (13.5 ft)
- Mass: 80,000 kg (180,000 lb)
- Associated launch vehicle: Energia
- Intended orbit: altitude 280 km (170 mi), inclination 64°
- Targeting system: optical, radar, with low-yield laser for final targeting
- Armament: 1-megawatt carbon-dioxide laser
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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Notes: † Never inhabited due to launch or on-orbit failure, ‡ Part of the
Almaz
military program, ° Never inhabited, lacks docking mechanism.
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Launches are separated by dots ( ? ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).
Crewed flights
are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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