Radio home
topic index
Class: Communications. Type: Amateur Radio. Destination: Medium Earth Orbit. Nation: Russia. Agency: MO SSSR. Manufacturer: Reshetnev.

Radio-ROSTO (Russian Defense, Sport, and Technical Organization) was a small amateur radio satellite launched on the maiden orbital mission of the Rokot booster on 26 December 1994. The 72-kg spacecraft used the obsolete Strela-1M communications satellite bus. The payload was the BRTK-11 electronic billboard (aka RS15) for use by amateur radio operators. The transponders worked at an uplink frequency band of 145.857-145.897 MHz and a downlink frequency band of 29.357-29.397 MHz with an output power of 5 W. Radio-ROSTO was inserted into an orbit of 1,884 km by 2,161 km at an inclination of 64.8 degrees. Plans for a commercial constellation of these satellites did not come to pass.

Radio-ROSTO was seen as the precursor to a proposed constellation of Radio-M spacecraft. Also launched by Rokot but into orbits of 950 to 1,000 km at 65 degrees, the network would consist of up to six spacecraft working with uplink and downlink frequencies of 435 MHz and 146 MHz and an output transmitter power of 20 W. Radio-M spacecraft would have been nearly twice as heavy, with a total mass of 120 kg. An alternative system would consist of six Radio-ROSTO class spacecraft in circular orbits near 1,950 km at inclinations of 65 degrees. The Radio program dated back to the piggyback launch of Radio-1 and Radio-2 in 1978, followed by Radio-3 through Radio-8 in 1981. Subsequent Radio transponders were carried by other host spacecraft.

Typical orbit: 1659 km x 1728 km at 64.81 to 83 degrees inclin. Mass: 72 kg (158 lb).

Radio Chronology
  • 1978 October 26 - Radio-2; Radio Sputnik 2 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC32/2. Launch Vehicle: Tsiklon. Mass: 40 kg (88 lb). Perigee: 1,686 km (1,047 mi). Apogee: 1,705 km (1,059 mi). Inclination: 82.60 deg. Period: 120.30 min.
    Launched with Cosmos-1045. Amateur radiocommunication and scientific and technical experiments and study projects by students at higher educational establishments.

  • 1978 October 26 - Radio Sputnik 1 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC32/2. Launch Vehicle: Tsiklon. Mass: 40 kg (88 lb). Perigee: 1,686 km (1,047 mi). Apogee: 1,707 km (1,060 mi). Inclination: 82.60 deg. Period: 120.40 min.
    Launched with Cosmos-1045. Amateur radiocommunication and scientific and technical experiments and study projects by students at higher educational establishments.

  • 1981 December 17 - Radio-7; Radio Sputnik 7 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC132/2. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 3. Perigee: 1,622 km (1,007 mi). Apogee: 1,661 km (1,032 mi). Inclination: 83.00 deg. Period: 119.10 min.
    Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket.

  • 1981 December 17 - Radio-8; Radio Sputnik 8 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC132/2. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 3. Perigee: 1,652 km (1,026 mi). Apogee: 1,682 km (1,045 mi). Inclination: 83.00 deg. Period: 119.70 min.
    Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket.

  • 1981 December 17 - Radio-5; Radio Sputnik 5 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC132/2. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 3. Perigee: 1,647 km (1,023 mi). Apogee: 1,668 km (1,036 mi). Inclination: 83.00 deg. Period: 119.50 min.
    Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket.

  • 1981 December 17 - Radio-4; Radio Sputnik 4 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC132/2. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 3. Perigee: 1,635 km (1,015 mi). Apogee: 1,666 km (1,035 mi). Inclination: 83.00 deg. Period: 119.30 min.
    Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket.

  • 1981 December 17 - Radio-6; Radio Sputnik 6 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC132/2. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 3. Perigee: 1,580 km (980 mi). Apogee: 1,660 km (1,030 mi). Inclination: 83.00 deg. Period: 118.60 min.
    Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket.

  • 1981 December 17 - Radio-3; Radio Sputnik 3 - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC132/2. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 3. Perigee: 1,565 km (972 mi). Apogee: 1,657 km (1,029 mi). Inclination: 83.00 deg. Period: 118.50 min.
    Amateur radiocommunication. Radio-3 to Radio-8 launched by a single carrier rocket.

  • 1994 December 26 - Radio-ROSTO RS-15 - Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: LC175/59. Launch Vehicle: UR-100N. Mass: 70 kg (154 lb). Perigee: 1,894 km (1,176 mi). Apogee: 2,151 km (1,336 mi). Inclination: 64.80 deg. Period: 127.70 min.

Bibliography:

  • McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
  • JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
  • Golotyuk, S, Novosti kosmonavtiki, "Sputnikostroiteli s beregov Yeniseya", No. 10, 1999, p. 64.
Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments.
Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
To contact astronauts or cosmonauts.

© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2008 except where otherwise noted.