Quote

Our specialists are conducting work on creating a space-based space surveillance system together with NPO Lavochkin under the leadership of MAK Vympel. One of our recent projects is to develop a small-size star tracker for space systems developed by KB Tochmash.

There are tantalizing clues that Russia is a working on a space-based anti-satellite system called Burevestnik (Stormy Petrel). I apologize in advance for the long posts that follow, but I think this claim needs to be backed up with all the evidence that I have managed to gather. People who are not interested in all the details may skip the first two posts and go to the conclusions in the third one. All the obtained information is from publicly accessible online sources, mainly technical papers and procurement documents. I will give links to all of those. All the articles are in Russian, but some have English abstracts.The first clue came in a collection of articles published in 2015 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Scientific Research Institute of Television (NII Televideniya or NIIT) in St-Petersburg, which has had a virtual monopoly in developing space-based TV systems for Soviet/Russian space projects ever since Luna-3 in 1959.In the introductory article NIITs director Aleksandr Umbitaliyev wrote the following (see p. 3):The space-based surveillance system is most likely 14F150/Nivelir-L, which saw its first launch with Kosmos-2519/2521/2523 last year. NPO Lavochkin is known to play a leading role in that project. We know from several contracts that a second mission (14F150 N°2) is currently being prepared.What particularly drew my attention, however, was the second line about NIITs involvement in space systems developed by KB Tochmash. KB Tochmash is short for Konstruktorskoye Byuro Tochnogo Mashinostroyeniya imeni А.Е. Nudelmana (Design Bureau for Precision Machine Building Named After А.Е. Nudelman). It is the current name of the former OKB-16 bureau that was led by Aleksandr Nudelman. KB Tochmashs core business are tactical surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank weapons and various other types of weaponry. Its sole role in the space program so far has been to develop anti-satellite weapons:- a rapid-fire cannon for at least one of Chelomeis military Almaz space stations (Salyut-3) in the 1970s. See this story by Anatoly Zak in Popular Mechanics:- space-to-space missiles for three ASAT projects that the Soviet Union worked on in the 1980s and early 1990s (Kaskad, Kamin and Naryad-V). For more details see an article I wrote for the British Interplanetary Societys Space Chronicle magazine in 2016 :Given KB Tochmashs background in space weaponry, the single line in the NIIT article is a strong indication that the company is once again working on some type of offensive space system. It is not clear, however, if there is a link with the Kosmos-2519/2521/2523 mission. The fact that NIITs involvement in the MAK Vympel/NPO Lavochkin project and the KB Tochmash project are mentioned in one and the same paragraph does not necessarily mean that they are related. All we can say for sure is that NIIT is involved in a project with NPO Lavochkin/MAK Vympel (most likely 14F150/Nivelir-L) on the one hand and a project with KB Tochmash on the other hand. As of yet there is no clear evidence for a relation between the two and I will focus here only on the KB Tochmash/NIIT project. I have discussed the possible role of NIIT and MAK Vympel in 14F150 in my latest post in the Kosmos-2519/2521/2523 thread.Not surprisingly, a search for more clues about the KB Tochmash/NIIT project on the website of KB Tochmash yielded no results.Even worse, the pages describing KB Tochmashs publicly known military products suddenly vanished several weeks ago, leaving information only on its civilian products. This may be part of an ongoing campaign by the Kremlin to tighten its control on Internet resources.However, a survey of recent technical papers written by KB Tochmash specialists did turn up several articles (in 2016-2017) that seem to be related to this project. They describe a simulator developed by KB Tochmash to re-create the background against which infrared sensors need to track fast moving objects in space. The articles reveal little to nothing about the true purpose of the simulator, but it could clearly be used to simulate any background interference that an ASAT weapon would have to deal with when homing in on a target. The main element of the simulator is an optical bench called OSK-2TsL, which is installed inside a vacuum chamber that closely mimics space conditions (see images below).(see p. 94-96, brief English summary available)(see p. 59-64, brief English summary available )A search for more information on NIITs small star tracker (which would be needed to determine the host vehicles orientation in space) also produced several results. It was the subject of a long article in the 1/2014 issue of NIITs journal Voprosy Radioelektroniki. This is not available online, but a brief summary (also in English) can be found here:Interestingly, the article was co-authored by one the KB Tochmash specialists involved in the space simulator experiments (Andrei Stepovoi), providing further evidence that the star tracker was indeed developed for a KB Tochmash project.A detailed description of the star tracker can be found in a technical publication on NIITs space-based TV systems released last year:(see p. 241-246)A dynamic simulator for the star tracker has been described in at least two publications:(see pp. 232-236, includes a brief English summary)The star tracker was shown at an exhibition called Fotonika-2017 held in Moscow in February-March 2017 and was mentioned in several press articles leading up to the exhibition. Some of the reports said it had already been tested in space conditions (without giving further details), for instance this one:The star tracker weighs about 300 g and measures 64x58x58 mm without a lens hood and 64x58x161 mm with a lens hood (see images below). This makes it possible to install it aboard small satellites. It has a resolution of 1024x1024 pixels, with each pixel measuring 5.5 x 5.5 µm2. It can see stars up to +6/+7 magnitude. None of the articles reveal the project for which the star tracker is intended and its name is not given (which in itself is indicative of a non-civilian purpose).The star tracker has been under development for at least five years and possibly longer. One NIIT specialist writing in the publication on the companys 80th anniversary (Anastasiya Chirkunova) said she became involved in the star tracker project when she began working at NIIT in 2013.(see p. 15)The key to finding more information on the project was a PhD dissertation defended in 2017 at the St.-Petersburg Electrotechnical University (LETI), which has close ties with NIIT. The dissertation, written by Aleksei V. Morozov, deals with the use of TV systems to detect and follow dynamic objects in space.In the introduction (p. 9) Morozov says that the results of his study were used in an OKR (experimental design work) at NIIT on a small-size stellar orientation sensor. He gives the name of that OKR as Burevestnik. Another project where the results were applied was a NIR (research project) called Napryazheniye (a name that has been linked to Lavochkins 14F150 project, more on that in the Kosmos-2519/2521/2523 thread).A subsequent search for Burevestnik on the zakupki.gov.ru site turned up several contracts signed between August 2014 and April 2015 between KB Tochmash and various subcontractors as well as between individual subcontractors. All of these were described as being part of NIR research themes with the following names :Burevestnik-Pr-KBTM-GIPO : between KBTM (KB Tochmash) and GIPOThe subject of this contract is not mentioned in the available documents. GIPO is the State Institute of Applied Optics (now part of the Shvabe holding), which specializes in infrared lenses for thermal imaging devices.Burevestnik-Pr-KBTM-NIIPKh-A : between NIIPKh and ZAO Aerokon(on optimizing the IGRT working process) (no idea what that means)Burevestnik-SP : between NIIPKh and SKTB Tekhnolog(on recommendations for the choice of chlorine-free oxidizers for gas generating substances)NIIPKh is the Scientific Research Institute of Applied Chemistry, which among other things produces pyrotechnic devices for spacecraft (incidentally, the pages describing its military products were recently removed from the companys website, just like those of KB Tochmash). The company is known to have worked on solid-propellant gas generators that produce clouds of aerosol particles to obscure moving vehicles from attacking enemy vehicles.(p. 5-8)One article written by NIIPKh specialists in 2016 mentions the possibility of installing such generators aboard satellites. They would produce nitrogen aerosol sprays to blind enemy spacecraft carrying detection, homing and negation systems. However, it is impossible to tell for sure that this is what this contract was all about. The pdf version of the article is no longer online, but it can still be consulted here:(see p. 94)ZAO Aerokon, a subcontractor to NIIPKh in the contract, specializes in drones, space-based radar systems and aircraft stealth technology and its role in this contract is unclear.Also on the zakupki.gov.ru website are four contracts (described as being part of NIR Burevestnik-Pr-KBTM) between KB Tochmash and subcontractors for various components of the space background simulator:KBTM  Shvabe Oborona i Zashchita(for the OSK-2TsL optical bench)KBTM  NPP ELIR(for AChT-6A blackbodies)KBTM  OOO Firma VIKON(for the table of the optical bench)КБТМ  OOO Elektrosteklo(for optical mirrors)One contract involving KB Tochmash (in the spring of 2015) refers to a theme called Burevestnik-M-ONB.KB Tochmash is also known to have signed contracts on 17 July and 18 July 2014 with NPTsAP (the former Pilyugin bureau), which specializes in guidance and control systems for rockets, upper stages and spacecraft. See this court document which gives the dates and numbers of several major contracts signed by KB Tochmash.However, there is no evidence that these contracts are related to Burevestnik.Some of the aforementioned contracts say that they are based on a contract signed between KB Tochmash and NPK KBM on 1 June 2014, which in turn was based on government contracts with the numbers 013/52/2014 and 013/53/2014. The date for the latter is 22 May 2014. The parties involved in these contracts are not mentioned, but are probably the Ministry of Defense and either KB Tochmash or NPK KBM (or both).NPK KBM (Design Bureau of Machine Building) (based in Kolomna just south of Moscow) is another weapon manufacturer which among other things produces tactical ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles and man-portable air defense systems. Its website is here:According to the Russian Wikipedia page about this company it worked on an ASAT projectile called Sharik back in the early 1960s (to be installed on Soyuz spacecraft), but it is not known to have been involved in any other space-related projects since. KB Tochmash and NPK KBM are two companies belonging to a holding called High Precision Complexes (Vysokotochnye kompleksy), which in turn is part of the Armaments cluster of the Rostekh State Corporation. NIIT, incidentally, is also part of Rostekh, but is subordinate to the Roselektronika holding of the corporations Radioelectronics cluster. Shvabe (which groups numerous optical companies) is another holding belonging to that cluster.In short, the basis for Burevestnik would appear to have been government contracts signed in May 2014. However, the name Burevestnik also shows up in other contracts that cannot be linked to these contracts. I will discuss these in the next post.