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Ekran
Part of KAUR-3

Ekran

Ekran
Credit: © Mark Wade

Russian communications satellite. Ekran was the Soviet Union's first geosynchronous satellite. Communication, direct broadcasting satellite built by NPO Prikladnoi Mekhaniki (NPO PM), Russia. Launched 1976 - 1988. Used KAUR-3 bus.

AKA: 11F647. Status: Operational 1976. First Launch: 1976-10-26. Last Launch: 1988-05-06. Number: 21 . Gross mass: 1,970 kg (4,340 lb).

A preliminary nuclear-powered design was to be boosted from parking orbit by a fluorine/hydrazine upper stage. This was abandoned by 1973, and the final KAUR-3 bus design was a conventional solar-powered platform boosted by a Block DM liquid oxygen/kerosene upper stage. Test flights in 1976-1980 were followed by operational versions that provided television service throughout the vast extent of the Soviet Union.

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/Hydrazine 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 stabilized to within 0.25 degrees of the earth's center using liquid propellant micro-engines. The single-unit body was equipped with solar panels, active liquid-gas phase-change thermoregulation system, and a corrective engine unit for making orbital adjustments. 25 square meters of solar panels provided 1280 W of power.

In the first half of the 1970's the Ekran (Statsionar T) system was completed for color 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.

Operations were delayed due to continuing problems with the Proton launch vehicle. This only had a 20% reliability in 1969, with only 5 of 8 launches being successful in 1976. It was difficult to solve the problem; every failure came in a different system of the vehicle.

Ekran featured a 12 square meter phased array antenna, operating at 702-726 MHz at 2 kW power. Flight trials continued to 1980 before the system was accepted for service. The satellite broadcast 12 to 16 hours of television programming daily. By 1982 3000 receivers were in operation.


More at: Ekran.

Family: Communications, Geosynchronous orbit. Country: Russia. Launch Vehicles: Proton, Proton-K/DM. Launch Sites: Baikonur, Baikonur LC81/24, Baikonur LC200/40, Baikonur LC200/39. Agency: MOM, Reshetnev bureau. Bibliography: 102, 2, 274, 449, 474, 6, 67, 6472, 12302.
Photo Gallery

YeSSS Unified SatellYeSSS Unified Satell
Unified Satellite Communication System
Credit: NASA


Ekran 1Ekran 1
Credit: Manufacturer Image



1972 April 5 - .
1976 October 26 - . 14:50 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC81/24. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1977 September 20 - . 17:28 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1978 May 27 - . 01:25 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM. FAILURE: Stage 1 - vehicle failed at launch.. Failed Stage: 1.
1978 August 17 - . 20:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM. FAILURE: Stage 1 - vehicle failed at launch.. Failed Stage: 1.
1978 October 17 - . 16:04 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM. FAILURE: Second stage explosion.. Failed Stage: 2.
1979 February 21 - . 07:49 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1979 October 3 - . 17:12 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1980 July 14 - . 22:35 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1980 December 26 - . 11:49 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1981 June 25 - . 23:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1982 February 5 - . 09:12 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1982 July 22 - . 22:11 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM. FAILURE: Stage 1 - vehicle failed at launch.. Failed Stage: 1.
1982 September 16 - . 18:31 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1983 March 12 - . 14:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1983 September 29 - . 17:37 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1984 March 16 - . 14:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/39. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1984 August 24 - . 19:50 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/39. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1985 March 22 - . 05:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/40. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1986 May 24 - . 01:42 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/39. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1987 September 3 - . 19:26 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/39. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.
1988 May 6 - . 02:47 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC200/39. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/DM.

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