Ekran

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Ekran

Ekran

Credit: © Mark Wade. 47,804 bytes. 577 x 394 pixels.

Article Number: 11F647. Class: Communications. Nation: USSR. Manufacturer: NPO PM.

Ekran was the Soviet Union's first geosynchronous satellite. Work began in the late 1960's and the first design used exotic and dangerous technologies. The satellite was to have been boosted into orbit by the Proton launch vehicle with a new high performance upper stage using Fluorine/Amine propellants. The satellite itself was to be powered by a 5 kW nuclear reactor.

Following a review at the VAKR-1971 seminar in 1971 the nuclear reactor was abandoned. The exotic upper stage, which reached cold flow tests at the Energomash facility in 1973, was also finally abandoned due to the toxic results of any launch vehicle failure on the pad.

The KAUR-3 spacecraft bus finally developed was 3-axis stabilised using liquid propellant micro-engines to within 0.25 degrees of the earth's centre. The single-unit body was equipped with solar panels, and active liquid-gas phase-change thermoregulation system, and a corrective engine unit for making orbital adjustments. 25 square metres of solar panels provided 1280 W of power.

In the first half of the 1970's the Ekran (Statsionar T) system was completed for central television broadcast to Siberia and the Far North. The first Ekran was launched on 26 October 1976, 27 months after the experimental Molniya 1S, the first Soviet geostationary test. The first flights used experimental satellites, but they already allowed 18 to 20 million additional Soviet citizens to see the Central Television program. Problems with the Proton booster resulted in delays in putting the system into operation.

Specification

Total Mass: 1,970 kg.

Ekran Chronology

05 April 1972 Unified System of Satellite Communications (YeSSS)

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On use of Molniya and Ekran for a unified satellite communications system' was issued. The YeSSS was defined as the Molniya-2 in elliptical orbit and Raduga (Statsionar) in geosynchronous orbit.

26 October 1976 Ekran 1 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,516 km. Apogee: 36,080 km. Inclination: 13.0 deg.

Statsionar T. Transmission of colour and black-and-white USSR central television programmes to the network of public receiving units located in population centres in Siberia and the Far North.

20 September 1977 Ekran 2 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,663 km. Apogee: 35,938 km. Inclination: 12.7 deg.

Statsionar T. Transmission of colour and black-and-white USSR central television programmes to the network of public receiving units located in population centres in Siberia and the Far North.

27 May 1978 Ekran s/n 13L Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. FAILURE: Stage 1 - vehicle failed at launch. Mass: 1,970 kg.

YeSSS Unified Satell - Unified Satellite Communication System

Credit: NASA. 46,548 bytes. 640 x 424 pixels.

Failed launch of communications satellite.

17 August 1978 Ekran s/n 15L Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. FAILURE: Stage 1 - vehicle failed at launch. Mass: 1,970 kg.

17 October 1978 Ekran s/n 14L Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. FAILURE: Second stage explosion. Mass: 1,970 kg.

21 February 1979 Ekran 3 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,621 km. Apogee: 35,935 km. Inclination: 11.9 deg.

Transmission of color and black-and-white USSR central television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

03 October 1979 Ekran 4 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,695 km. Apogee: 35,867 km. Inclination: 11.6 deg.

Transmission of color and black-and-white USSR central television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

15 July 1980 Ekran 5 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,737 km. Apogee: 35,834 km. Inclination: 0.0 deg.

Transmission of color and black-and-white USSR central television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

26 December 1980 Ekran 6 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,761 km. Apogee: 35,810 km. Inclination: 10.8 deg.

Transmission of color and black-and-white USSR central television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

26 June 1981 Ekran 7 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,787 km. Apogee: 35,819 km. Inclination: 10.5 deg.

Transmission of Central Television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

05 February 1982 Ekran 8 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,756 km. Apogee: 36,010 km. Inclination: 10.0 deg.

Transmission of Central Television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

22 July 1982 Ekran s/n 23L Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. FAILURE: Stage 1 - vehicle failed at launch. Mass: 1,970 kg.

16 September 1982 Ekran 9 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,663 km. Apogee: 35,885 km. Inclination: 9.5 deg.

Transmission of Central Television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

12 March 1983 Ekran 10 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 37,165 km. Apogee: 37,483 km. Inclination: 10.1 deg.

Transmission of Central Television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

29 September 1983 Ekran 11 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 35,788 km. Apogee: 35,815 km. Inclination: 8.6 deg.

Launch date suspect Transmission of Central Television programmes to a network of receivers for collective use.

16 March 1984 Ekran 12 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K / 11S86. Mass: 1,970 kg. Perigee: 36,973 km. Apogee: 37,048 km. Inclination: 9.1 deg.