[b]The military threat from outer space is stronger today than ever before. The United States has the largest military satellite grouping in Earth orbit and is actively using it against Russia during a special operation. The orbital capacities of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation are classified as "secret", but exactly 60 years ago our country became a pioneer in the creation of a new type of combat spacecraft – "satellite fighters".[b]
The space fighter of the Polet-1 satellites has become a unique weapon created to ensure the security of the country in the shortest possible time. Launched into space on November 1, 1963 at 11:56 a.m., the Sputnik Fighter was the world's first space object capable of deep maneuvering, the ability to change the orbit and destroy enemy spacecraft.
Chelomey was ahead of Korolev
In 1960, when the Soviet Union was still testing prototypes of the Vostok spacecraft, and the ratio of successful and unsuccessful launches was almost equal, Soviet aerospace leaders Sergei Korolev, Artem Mikoyan and Grigory Kisunko came to the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev with a proposal ahead of time concerning the country's space defense. They, among other things, submitted a project for an unmanned interceptor spacecraft capable of destroying enemy satellites.
However, it turned out that they were outpaced – and not by a likely opponent (the Americans), but by their own colleagues. Vladimir Chelomey, who headed the experimental design bureau No. 52, proposed similar projects a few months earlier. On June 23, 1960, the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 714-295 "On the creation of rocket planes, spaceplanes, reconnaissance satellites and ballistic missiles with homing" was issued. OKB-52 was proposed to develop these projects.
Chelomey refused the option of a manned spacecraft. It is too expensive, too difficult, too little time for such an interceptor with an astronaut inside to work in orbit. It was decided to create a controlled satellite fighter – a spacecraft capable of performing maneuvers, changing its orbit and, if necessary, disabling enemy satellites.
It was a cheaper and simpler project than the heavy returnable rocket plane proposed by Korolev.
The future "space fighter" was the addition of two parallel works: the creation of controlled satellites for maritime reconnaissance ("US") and satellite fighters ("IS"). Among themselves, the designers called the joint work – "sessions on ISUSes".
Why do we need satellite fighters at all? Back in April 1958, the Pentagon launched the Bold Orion, an air-launched ballistic missile, into space from a B–47 bomber. And in October 1959, an experiment was conducted to test the possibility of hitting spacecraft with a nuclear warhead. The Soviet Union had to respond to such a "warming up" of the space situation, the prospect of being left without important spacecraft had to be stopped. In many ways, this was the beginning of the creation of the IS space program.
Cosmic Fraction
As the basis of the design, a fuselage–free version was chosen – a classic for satellites - based on trusses forming a power frame. In the front part of the satellite, there were radio control systems, orientation systems, etc., fuel tanks, compressed gas cylinders, as well as correction engines, which were common for civilian satellites.
A compartment with two retractable warheads (each weighing about 100 kilograms) was responsible for the actual military work. Combat units could fire five-millimeter metal balls (shot), capable of easily destroying the delicate "insides" of an alien spacecraft. Acceleration, hard and soft stabilization engines were installed in the tail section for accurate aiming of the device.
The main property of such a "satellite fighter" is the ability to change its orbit, approach the target distance to another spacecraft and destroy it. Most of the "civilian" spacecraft do not have such capabilities, they need engines to change orientation and more accurate positioning. The Vostok spacecraft could also maneuver, but it did not have the possibility of multiple and wide maneuvering in space, multiple engine activation and automatic stabilization function.
The first flight of "Flight"
Such military spacecraft required a separate command and measurement point and a high-security control center. The reconnaissance commission of the air Defense forces chose an area in the vicinity of the village of Dubrovo near Noginsk. In just two years of construction work, the "Object 224B", also known as the Central Experimental Command and Computer Control and Guidance Center of the IS complex, was completed. By 1963, everything was ready for testing.
Already in January, the finished products were demonstrated to Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, as well as to high-ranking military personnel headed by Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky. By this time, three satellites had been manufactured: No. 101 – a stand version, No. 102 and No. 103 – flight samples. These were the first such devices in the USSR and in the world as a whole.
In September, the I-2B No. 102 was delivered to Baikonur. For the first tests, the R-7A was used as a launch vehicle, later it was supposed to switch to military ballistic missiles UR-200. The launch took place on November 1, 1963 at 11:56 a.m. The separation was successful. After a short time, the satellite entered the calculated orbit, took the correct orientation and stabilized.
The test program was designed for 90 minutes and assumed several changes in the orbital trajectory at once. After the end of the maneuvers, the satellite moved to another orbit. And only after the successful completion of the entire test program, he was given the name "Flight-1".
With this flight, the space military program "Satellite Fighter" began. The program was top secret. The Soviet press wrote about the launch of the "fighter" that it was a research maneuvering spacecraft "Flight-1", "equipped with special equipment and a system of propulsion systems that ensure its stabilization and wide maneuvering in near-Earth space." Actually, everything is true, and the military purpose of the device remained behind the scenes.
The program was closed in 1997. The achievements of the "Flight-1" gave a lot of valuable information for the creation of future spacecraft. There is no doubt that this information remains relevant for the Russian Aerospace Forces today. Modern Russian military spacecraft are under a dense veil of secrecy. However, even today, as 60 years ago, they are aimed at countering the military activity of a potential enemy in space.
Mikhail Kotov