* The Soviet Union followed the American lead in navigation satellites, fielding a system known as "Parus / Tsikada" comparable to Transit in the 1970s and then developing a GPS-like system named "GLONASS" in the 1980s. Other nations are now getting into the navigation satellite business, with China flying a "Beidou" constellation and Europe working towards a "Galileo" constellation.
* The Soviets set up a network of navigation satellites similar to the US Transit system, using Doppler location technology and with comparable accuracies. As with the US Transit system, the primary rationale was to provide navigational data to ballistic-missile submarines. Investigations began in the late 1950s, leading to start of a formal development program in 1962. Launch of an initial series of "Tsyklon" experimental satellites began in 1967, with a total of 29 launched into 1978, not counting at least two launch failures.
The development program was protracted because it proved difficult to obtain the required location accuracy. Meeting specification required launch of geodetic studies satellites to obtain a more precise gravity map of the Earth. The last 13 Tsyklons were operational prototypes, close to production spec, and were also called "Zaliv".
_______________________________________________________________________ 15 may 67 Cosmos 158 -- dummy payload 27 sep 67 Tsyklon dummy payload launch attempt -- failure 23 nov 67 Cosmos 192 07 may 68 Cosmos 220 14 aug 69 Cosmos 292 21 oct 69 Cosmos 304 11 apr 70 Cosmos 332 20 aug 70 Cosmos 358 -- went into unusual, possibly wrong, orbit 12 oct 70 Cosmos 371 12 dec 70 Cosmos 385 22 may 71 Cosmos 422 15 dec 71 Cosmos 465 25 feb 72 Cosmos 475 06 may 72 Cosmos 489 16 aug 72 Cosmos 514 26 jan 73 Cosmos 546 25 may 73 first Zaliv launch attempt -- failure 20 jun 73 Cosmos 574 14 sep 73 Cosmos 586 29 dec 73 Cosmos 627 17 jan 74 Cosmos 628 27 jun 74 Cosmos 663 19 oct 74 Cosmos 689 23 apr 75 Cosmos 729 03 feb 76 Cosmos 800 03 jun 76 Cosmos 823 29 jul 76 Cosmos 846 20 jan 77 Cosmos 890 28 oct 77 Cosmos 962 15 mar 78 Cosmos 994 27 jul 78 Cosmos 1027 _______________________________________________________________________
The Tsyklon series was followed by the fully operational "Tsyklon-B" or "Parus" system. Unlike the wildly varying Transit satellites, the Tsyklon and Parus satellites had similar configurations. Both were in the form of a drum covered with solar cells, with a weighted mast on top for gravity-gradient stabilization, and an antenna hung off one side near the bottom. They were all launched from the Plesetsk Northern Cosmodrome by the standard Soviet Kosmos 3M medium-lift booster, one satellite per shot, though a few launches did include small secondary payloads. The developed Parus satellites had a launch weight of about 810 kilograms (1,785 pounds), and were placed into a near-circular orbit of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) at a near-polar inclination of 83 degrees.
The Parus system was formally accepted into service in 1976, but it appears that the full constellation required 22 satellites and that wasn't achieved until 1980. The Parus satellites also provided a "store-dump" communications relay service for Red Navy surface vessels and submarines. Parus satellites continue to be launched, and some suspect that military communications are now the primary rationale for the constellation.
_______________________________________________________________________ 26 dec 74 Cosmos 700 11 apr 75 Cosmos 726 14 aug 75 Cosmos 755 04 nov 75 Cosmos 778 20 jan 76 Cosmos 789 29 oct 76 Cosmos 864 28 dec 76 Cosmos 887 21 feb 77 Cosmos 894 13 jul 77 Cosmos 928 13 sep 77 Cosmos 951 23 dec 77 Cosmos 971 17 jan 78 Cosmos 985 28 feb 78 Cosmos 991 28 mar 78 Cosmos 996 23 may 78 Cosmos 1011 20 dec 78 Cosmos 1064 16 jan 79 Cosmos 1072 21 mar 79 Cosmos 1089 07 apr 79 Cosmos 1091 31 may 79 Cosmos 1104 16 oct 79 Cosmos 1141 14 jan 80 Cosmos 1150 25 jan 80 Cosmos 1153 20 may 80 Cosmos 1181 05 dec 80 Cosmos 1225 12 feb 81 Cosmos 1244 04 jun 81 Cosmos 1275 12 aug 81 Cosmos 1295 18 sep 81 Cosmos 1308 14 jan 82 Cosmos 1333 24 mar 82 Cosmos 1344 08 apr 82 Cosmos 1349 18 jun 82 Cosmos 1380 07 jul 82 Cosmos 1386 19 oct 82 Cosmos 1417 12 jan 83 Cosmos 1428 30 mar 83 Cosmos 1448 06 may 83 Cosmos 1459 24 may 83 Cosmos 1464 08 dec 83 Cosmos 1513 11 jan 84 Cosmos 1531 02 feb 84 Cosmos 1535 11 may 84 Cosmos 1550 27 jun 84 Cosmos 1577 13 sep 84 Cosmos 1598 11 oct 84 Cosmos 1605 15 nov 84 Cosmos 1610 01 feb 85 Cosmos 1627 14 mar 85 Cosmos 1634 23 oct 85 Launch failure. 28 nov 85 Cosmos 1704 19 dec 85 Cosmos 1709 16 jan 86 Cosmos 1725 23 may 86 Cosmos 1745 18 jun 86 Cosmos 1759 24 nov 86 Cosmos 1802 17 dec 86 Cosmos 1808 18 feb 87 Cosmos 1821 06 jul 87 Cosmos 1864 14 oct 87 Cosmos 1891 23 dec 87 Cosmos 1904 22 mar 88 Cosmos 1934 18 jul 88 Cosmos 1959 22 feb 89 Cosmos 2004 04 apr 89 Cosmos 2016 07 jun 89 Cosmos 2026 25 jul 89 Cosmos 2034 20 mar 90 Cosmos 2061 20 apr 90 Cosmos 2074 14 sep 90 Cosmos 2100 26 feb 91 Cosmos 2135 16 apr 91 Cosmos 2142 22 aug 91 Cosmos 2154 27 nov 91 Cosmos 2173 17 feb 92 Cosmos 2180 15 apr 92 Cosmos 2184 01 jul 92 Cosmos 2195 29 oct 92 Cosmos 2218 09 feb 93 Cosmos 2233 01 apr 93 Cosmos 2239 02 nov 93 Cosmos 2266 26 apr 94 Cosmos 2279 22 mar 95 Cosmos 2310 06 oct 95 Cosmos 2321, did not reach operational orbit 16 jan 96 Cosmos 2327 05 sep 96 Cosmos 2334* 20 dec 96 Cosmos 2336 17 apr 97 Cosmos 2341 23 sep 97 Cosmos 2346* 24 dec 98 Cosmos 2361 26 aug 99 Cosmos 2366 08 jun 01 Cosmos 2378 28 may 02 Cosmos 2389 04 jun 03 Cosmos 2398 22 jul 04 Cosmos 2407 20 jan 05 Cosmos 2414* 11 sep 07 Cosmos 2429 21 jul 09 Cosmos 2454* 27 apr 10 Cosmos 2463 _______________________________________________________________________ (*) Indicates other payloads in launch.
Parus was a secret military system, but it was followed into service by a simplified system for civilian use, known as "Tsikada", also launched by the Kosmos 3M booster. Parus is sometimes referred to as "Tsikada Military" or "Tsikada-M". The Tsikada system was accepted into service in 1979 and reached its full complement of satellites in 1986. Tsikada was heavily used by the Soviet merchant marine. A few launches involved secondary payloads; in particular, the Tsikada satellite Cosmos 2123 was also fitted with two Russian amateur radio communications transponders.
_______________________________________________________________________ 15 dec 76 Cosmos 883 08 jul 77 Cosmos 926 31 mar 78 Cosmos 1000 12 apr 79 Cosmos 1092 18 mar 80 Cosmos 1168 10 dec 80 Cosmos 1226 04 sep 81 Cosmos 1304 18 feb 82 Cosmos 1339 26 oct 83 Cosmos 1506 17 may 84 Cosmos 1553 30 may 85 Cosmos 1655 23 jan 86 Cosmos 1727 13 nov 86 Cosmos 1791 29 jan 87 Cosmos 1816 23 jun 87 Cosmos 1861 05 feb 91 Cosmos 2123* 10 mar 92 Cosmos 2181 12 jan 93 Cosmos 2230 24 jan 95 Tsikada* 05 jul 95 Cosmos 2315 _______________________________________________________________________ (*) Indicates other payloads in launch.
Although the last Tsikada satellite as such was launched in 1995, the constellation was followed a series of Tsikada-type satellites fitted with an auxiliary COSPAS-SARSAT rescue beacon locator payload -- described in more detail later -- with these spacecraft given the name "Nadezhda (Hope)". An evaluation prototype was launched in 1982, followed by the first launch of an operational satellite in 1983. From the mid-1990s the Nadezhdas were fitted with an improved "Kurs" rescue locator system, and these improved satellites were designated "Nadezhda-M".
_______________________________________________________________________ 30 jun 82 Cosmos 1383 (evaluation prototype) 24 mar 83 Cosmos 1447 21 jun 84 Cosmos 1574 04 jul 89 Nadezhda 1 27 feb 90 Nadezhda 2 12 mar 91 Nadezhda 3 14 jul 94 Nadezhda 4 10 dec 98 Nadezhda 5 (Nadezhda M)* 28 jun 00 Nadezhda 6 (Nadezhda M)* 26 sep 02 Nadezhda 7 (Nadezhda M) _______________________________________________________________________ (*) Indicates other payloads in launch.BACK_TO_TOP
* Although both the Parus and Tsikada / Nadezhda systems were still in operation at last notice, the Soviets went on to develop a GPS-like system, with the English name of "Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS)". Like GPS, the full GLONASS network includes 24 satellites, consisting of 21 operational satellites and three spares.
All the satellites transmit identical codes but at different frequencies, exactly the reverse of the scheme used for GPS. Actually, some satellites do transmit on the same frequencies, but they are placed in "antipodal" orbits, on opposite sides of the Earth, so they won't be picked up by a receiver at the same time. The GLONASS satellites provide a "High Precision (HP)" signal for military location purposes and a "Standard Precision (SP)" signal for civil location purposes. The orbits are at an altitude of 19,100 kilometers (11,865 miles), slightly lower than that of the GPS satellites, with the satellites placed in three orbital planes, each containing eight satellites and with the planes separated by 120 degrees. Each satellite completes an orbit in 11 hours 15 minutes. The planes have orbital inclinations of 64.8 degrees. GLONASS is supposed to have location accuracy capabilities roughly similar to those of GPS.
GLONASS satellites, also known by the name "Uragan (Hurricane)", were originally launched on Proton boosters. They have a configuration roughly along the lines of that of US GPS Navstar satellites, with a central module carrying antenna arrays and twin solar panels. GLONASS launches began in 1982, apparently with prototype launches into 1985. An Etalon geodetic satellite was launched in place of one of the GLONASS triplets in two launches in 1989 to validate the GLONASS orbit.
An improved "GLONASS-M / Uragan-M" spacecraft was introduced, featuring better signal characteristics and a design lifetime of seven years, instead of the three year design lifetime of the original series. Older GLONASS satellites were launched along with GLONASS-M spacecraft for a time, apparently to burn up existing inventory. GLONASS-M has now been followed by the third-generation "GLONASS-K / Uragan-K" spacecraft, which are smaller and have a design lifetime of ten years. They are launched in singles or pairs on less expensive Soyuz boosters.
_______________________________________________________________________ 12 oct 82 Cosmos 1413:1415 dummy GLONASS x 3 10 aug 83 Cosmos 1490:1492 GLONASS prototype x 3 29 dec 83 Cosmos 1519:1521 GLONASS prototype x 3 19 may 84 Cosmos 1554:1556 GLONASS prototype x 3 04 sep 84 Cosmos 1593:1595 GLONASS prototype x 3 18 may 85 Cosmos 1650:1652 GLONASS prototype x 3 25 dec 85 Cosmos 1710:1712 GLONASS prototype x 3 16 sep 86 Cosmos 1778:1780 GLONASS x 3 24 apr 87 Cosmos 1838:1840 GLONASS x 3, launch failure 16 sep 87 Cosmos 1883:1885 GLONASS x 3 17 feb 88 Cosmos 1917:1919 GLONASS x 3, launch failure 21 may 88 Cosmos 1946:1948 GLONASS x 3 16 sep 88 Cosmos 1970:1972 GLONASS x 3 10 jan 89 Cosmos 1987:1989 GLONASS x 2, Etalon 31 may 89 Cosmos 2022:2024 GLONASS x 2, Etalon 19 may 90 Cosmos 2079:2081 GLONASS x 3 08 dec 90 Cosmos 2109:2111 GLONASS x 3 04 apr 91 Cosmos 2139:2141 GLONASS x 3 30 jan 92 Cosmos 2177:2179 GLONASS x 3 30 jul 92 Cosmos 2177:2179 GLONASS x 3 17 feb 93 Cosmos 2234:2236 GLONASS x 3 11 apr 94 Cosmos 2275:2277 GLONASS x 3 11 aug 94 Cosmos 2287:2289 GLONASS x 3 20 nov 94 Cosmos 2294:2296 GLONASS x 3 07 mar 95 Cosmos 2306:2309 GLONASS x 3 24 jul 95 Cosmos 2316:2319 GLONASS x 3 14 dec 95 Cosmos 2323:2225 GLONASS x 3 30 dec 98 Cosmos 2362:2364 GLONASS x 3 13 oct 00 Cosmos 2374:2376 GLONASS x 3 01 dec 01 Cosmos 2380:2382 GLONASS x 2, GLONASS-M x 1 (COSMOS 2382) 25 dec 02 Cosmos 2394:2396 GLONASS x 3 01 dec 03 Cosmos 2402:2404 GLONASS x 2, GLONASS-M x 1 (COSMOS 2404) 26 dec 04 Cosmos 2411:2413 GLONASS x 2, GLONASS-M x 1 (COSMOS 2413) 26 dec 04 Cosmos 2411:2413 GLONASS x 2, GLONASS-M x 1 (COSMOS 2413) 25 dec 05 Cosmos 2417:2419 GLONASS x 1 (COSMOS 2417), GLONASS-M x 2 24 dec 06 Cosmos 2424:2426 GLONASS-M x 3 26 oct 07 Cosmos 2431:2433 GLONASS-M x 3 25 dec 07 Cosmos 2435:2437 GLONASS-M x 3 25 sep 08 GLONASS 724:726 GLONASS-M x 3 25 dec 08 GLONASS 727:729 GLONASS-M x 3 14 dec 09 GLONASS 730,733,734 GLONASS-M x 3 26 feb 11 / GLONASS GLONASS-K x 1 02 oct 11 / GLONASS GLONASS-M x 1 03 nov 11 / GLONASS GLONASS-M x 3 28 nov 11 / GLONASS GLONASS-M x 1 26 apr 13 / GLONASS GLONASS-M x 1 _______________________________________________________________________
Launches of GLONASS spacecraft were spotty, not surprising considering the unsettled nature of the Russian state in the wake of the collapse of the USSR. However, money from oil and gas sales finally provided the funds to get moving on GLONASS, with the full constellation of 24 satellites in operation by the end of 2011.
BACK_TO_TOP* China is now operating their own first-generation satellite navigation system, named "Compass". The satellites are know under the name of "Beidou (Big Dipper)", with an initial "Beidou-1" constellation set up with three satellite launches from 2000 into 2003:
__________________________________________________________ 31 oct 00 Beidou 1A Long March 3A 21 dec 00 Beidou 1B Long March 3A 25 may 03 Beidou 1C Long March 3A __________________________________________________________
The satellites were based on the Chinese DFH-3 geostationary communications satellite and each had a launch weight of 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds). The Beidou-1 system managed to provide navigational coverage of all of China and surrounding areas. There was some impression initially, partly because the spacecraft looked so much like communications satellites, that they provided error corrections of GPS signals, but as it turned out Beidou-1 was a stand-alone navsat system.
The scheme was referred to as the "TwinStar" system, and it had some resemblance to the aircraft "DME" scheme. Twinstar was demonstrated using two DFH-2A communications satellites in 1989, leading to authorization of full development of the navsat system in 1993.
The developed system involved a ground-based control center sending an interrogation signal to a user's ground-based navigation receiver through the Beidou satellites, with the receiver then sending back a response through two satellites. The "time delay of arrival (TDOA)" of the response signal back to each satellite allowed the position of the receiver to be determined by triangulation, with the position estimate refined at the control center by cross-referencing to a China terrain altitude database. The position data was relayed back to the receiver using an encrypted channel -- of course, Compass was designed with military applications in mind, just as were US and Soviet navsat systems -- and users could also send text messages with up to 120 Chinese characters through the spacecraft.
The system operated in a band around 2.491 GHz. There was an ambiguity in the use of geostationary satellites, in that a position might be north or south of the Equator, but since all of China is well north of the Equator and Beidou-1 was intended at least at the outset as a national system, that wasn't a problem. Accuracy was only about 100 meters (330 feet), though it could be improved to 20 meters (66 feet) or better using ground-based augmentation systems. Since two-way communications were required, the Compass receivers were bigger and more expensive than GPS / GLONASS receivers, and the maximum number of users ran to about 540,000 over the course of an hour.
Military users began to utilize the Compass system in late 2001, with civilian users getting on board in April 2004. Compass was clearly designed to provide a useful navsat system under Chinese control at much lower cost than fielding a full GPS / GLONASS-type global navsat constellation.
* The low-resolution Beidou-1 constellation was clearly an interim solution, since the Chinese then began to move forward on "Beidou-2", now being set up, which is much more like GPS or GLONASS, with spacecraft generating sets of timing signals to give more precise locations.
In completion, Beidou-2 will have 35 satellites -- five in geostationary orbit to provide global coverage using the old Beidou-1 scheme, with 27 spacecraft in medium Earth orbit and three in a "geostationary" altitude orbit -- oddly at high angles of inclination.
__________________________________________________________ 02 feb 07 Beidou 1D Long March 3A 14 apr 07 Beidou M-1 Long March 3A 15 apr 09 Beidou G-2 Long March 3C 17 jan 10 Beidou G-1 Long March 3C 02 jun 10 Beidou G-3 Long March 3C 01 aug 10 Beidou IGSO-1 Long March 3A 01 nov 10 Beidou G-4 Long March 3C 18 dec 10 Beidou IGSO-2 Long March 3A 10 apr 11 Beidou IGSO-3 Long March 3A 26 jul 11 Beidou IGSO-4 Long March 3A 02 dec 11 Beidou IGSO-5 Long March 3A 24 feb 12 Beidou G5 Long March 3C 29 apr 12 Beidou M3,M4 Long March 3B 18 sep 12 Beidou M5,M6 Long March 3B 25 oct 12 Beidou G6 Long March 3C __________________________________________________________ G: geostationary Earth orbit IGSO: high-inclination geostationary Earth orbit M: medium Earth orbit __________________________________________________________
An initial operating capability was available by the beginning of 2012, with Chinese officials saying the full constellation would be in service by 2020.
BACK_TO_TOP* There has been some effort towards building receivers that can obtain signals from both GPS and GLONASS, providing substantially greater accuracy than would be possible from either by itself. Use of two satellite systems also gives users a "backup" operational capability if one of the systems is disabled. The European Community is now implementing the "Global Navigation Satellite System 1 (GNSS-1)", which will integrate services from GPS, GLONASS, and various augmentation networks.
One of the problems in combining use of GPS and GLONASS is that they use different global coordinate systems. GPS uses a coordinate system named "WGS-84", in which the precise location of the North Pole (which drifts a bit) is fixed at its location in 1984. GLONASS uses a coordinate system named "PZ-90", in which the precise location of the North Pole is given as an average of its position from 1900 to 1905. Trying to link the two coordinate systems has proven difficult, particularly because there are far fewer GLONASS receivers than GPS receivers.
GNSS-1 is supposedly a stepping stone to a completely independent European "GNSS-2". GNSS-2, or "Galileo" as it has been named, is to be based on an entirely new satellite constellation, consisting of 30 satellites, including three on-orbit spares, placed in three orbital planes at an altitude of 26,616 kilometers (16,530 miles). The orbital system will be integrated from the start with ground augmentation networks. The Galileo satellites will also carry COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue payloads.
Unlike GPS, Galileo will be completely under civilian control. It is being implemented through a cooperative relationship between the ESA and the European Union (EU) organization. European military forces have expressed interest in making use of Galileo, but so far have not offered to help with funding. India bought into a share of the program in late 2003.
The Galileo group plans to offer four types of service packages: an "open" service available to all at no cost; a "safety of life" service that provides alerts when the system's accuracy or integrity is compromised; a commercial service using encrypted signals; and a public regulated service for government users. The Galileo system uses a different scheme from the US GPS system, but work was done to make sure the two systems dovetailed well enough to prevent mutual interference and allow users to pick up both systems with a single receiver.
The green light for development was given in the summer of 2003. Initial efforts focused on the flight of two "Galileo Test-Bed Satellites (GTBS)", with the spacecraft known more specifically by the name of "Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element (GIOVE)". The contract for the first testbed satellite, GIOVE A, was issued to Surrey Satellite Technology LTD in the UK in July 2003. GIOVE A was launched from Baikonur by a Soyuz-Fregat booster on 28 November 2005; the satellite had a launch mass of 600 kilograms (1,327 pounds). GIOVE A was mainly intended to stake a claim on the radio spectrum to be used by Galileo and was not representative of an operational spacecraft, though it did carry technology validation payloads.
GIOVE B was built by Thales Alenia Space, EADS Astrium, and Telespazio, and was launched from Baikonur on 26 April 2008, well behind expected schedule. It was a demonstrator for operational satellites, carrying a payload including three high-precision hydrogen maser clocks. Initial launch of four operational "in orbit validation" satellite has been persistently slipping, leaving it uncertain as to when the full Galileo constellation will be in space.
The delays -- and associated cost overruns -- were partly due to technical problems, but they were also due to persistent bickering over the program among the member states. Critics have blasted the program, calling it a classic "Euro-boondoggle", based on a bogus business model and amounting to little more than an overpriced attempt to acquire a "me-too" GPS system. There have been loud calls for its cancellation, though for the time being the program remains alive.
BACK_TO_TOP