| Space forces have turned Russia into a continuous radar field The Russian Space Forces are preparing to celebrate the anniversary of their main symbol - the Baikonur Cosmodrome. On June 2, the 5th State Engineering Test Site of the Ministry of Defense will turn half a century old.
The main builder of the cosmodrome was General Shubnikov, the creator of Treptow Park in Berlin. The general believed that this was his last major construction project, but Baikonur turned out to be a much larger-scale site. It was he who brought glory to the general and became his monument. From there, the first Soviet ballistic missile launched in August 1957; in October of the same year, as written on the monument erected on the territory of the cosmodrome, the “daring assault on space” began. Then the first artificial Earth satellite was launched. In 1961, the first cosmonaut flew from here. All the country’s successes in the field of space are associated with this cosmodrome; thanks to it, Russia is considered a great space power. After the collapse of the USSR, the leaders of Kazakhstan and Russia had enough political wisdom to sign an agreement on Russia's lease of Baikonur in 1994, and in the past - on extending the lease until 2050.
There is no alternative to Baikonur yet. Everything that flies in near space (up to an altitude of 1000 km), that is, light vehicles, is launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. More bulky communication devices, missile attack warnings, and reconnaissance devices require a lot of energy to be launched into orbit. A Soyuz-type carrier from Plesetsk simply won’t pull them into orbit. As soon as the new Angara heavy-class carrier appears, it will be possible to launch the same devices from Plesetsk. But still, launches from Baikonur will remain cheaper - the closer to the equator, the less fuel is required to put a kilogram of payload into orbit. Even the considerable annual rental fee for the cosmodrome ($115 million) is justified. The construction of a new cosmodrome in the Far East requires about 15 billion rubles. But the controversy surrounding it has not yet even led to the formation of a federal target program financed by a separate budget line. Although there are a number of instructions from the president and government on this problem, the Ministry of Finance proposes to seek funds from the Ministry of Defense and Roscosmos.
At Baikonur there are silo launchers for ballistic missiles - “Voevoda”, “Stiletto”, which are still on combat duty today. For many, the service life exceeds the warranty. To confirm their combat readiness, launches are regularly carried out at the cosmodrome. The cosmodrome also maintains the state of the orbital constellation, which provides political and military leadership with intelligence information and communications. And without navigation and cartographic support, a new class of weapons - high-precision - is simply meaningless. “Who needs a rocket that hits a window if you don’t know where the window is?” - Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin, commander of the Space Forces, asks rhetorically. Therefore, testing of a new reconnaissance complex began last year, and testing of a new communications complex will begin this year. The constellation of the global navigation system GLONASS is being restored - today it contains a dozen satellites.
“Cosmonauts” also carry out commercial launches. “We don’t want to be businessmen in uniform,” says General Popovkin, “but not all the calculations could be done by employees of the Federal Space Agency; we did them.” In general, Baikonur keeps up with the times. It is quite possible, admitted the head of the cosmodrome, Lieutenant General Leonid Baranov, that soon Baikonur will begin to host tourists who, for a reasonable fee, would like to watch the launch of a spacecraft and walk through the territory and objects of the unique economy. Several such familiarization routes are being developed.
What Baikonur will definitely not do is launch nuclear weapons into space, the commander is sure. The fact is that, unlike on earth, with these weapons in space there can be the most unpredictable situations; the world can be on the brink of war for reasons beyond the control of humanity - due to meteor showers, solar flares, and so on. Russia is not going to launch means of combating asteroids, as some scientific minds insist on - this is incredibly expensive and is unlikely to be useful. Space forces, as strange as it may sound, are aimed more at earthly affairs. Yesterday at 11.30 a laser optical locator was put on experimental combat duty in Zelenchuk (Karachay-Cherkessia) to monitor outer space. Another station will be tested near St. Petersburg. So that there are no “holes” over the country into which a stray rogue missile could fly. However, they are not there. As the commander said, the country is protected by a continuous radar field. Nikolay POROSKOV |
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