Thank you very much for visiting Gunter's Space Page. I hope that this site is useful and informative for you.
If you appreciate the information provided on this site, please consider supporting my work by making a simple and secure donation via PayPal. Please help to run the website and keep everything free of charge. Thank you very much.
Tundra (Kupol, EKS, 14F142)
Tundra (?) [TsNII Kometa]
The Tundra, Kupol or EKS (Edinaya Kosmicheskaya Sistema) series of satellites is the next generation of Russian early warning satellites to replace the US-K and US-KMO early warning satellites of the Oko-1 system. The new early warning system is called Kupol.
The development of the EKS started in 2000. The Russian Ministry of Defence awarded in 2007 a contract for the EKS system to RKK Energiya with a first test launch planned in 2009. Several problems, changing requirements and a court case led to long delays, postponing the first mission to the end of 2014.
Reportedly the Tundra satellites carry also a secure emergency communications payload to be used in case of a nuclear war.
They are launched on Soyuz-2-1b Fregat boosters into Molniya-orbits, inclined highly elliptical 12 h orbits. A geostationary version is also planned.
The first Tundra satellite was launched in the last quarter of 2015 on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat booster. Until 2020, six satellites were planned to be orbited. At then end of 2020, four were on orbit.
| Nation: | Russia |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Early warning, communication |
| Operator: | |
| Contractors: | TsNII Kometa (prime); RKK Energiya (bus) |
| Equipment: | |
| Configuration: | USP Bus |
| Propulsion: | |
| Power: | Deployable solar arrays, batteries |
| Lifetime: | 7.5 years |
| Mass: | |
| Orbit: | 1626 km × 38552 km, 63.37° (#1) |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L, Kupol 11L, EKS #1) | 2015-066A | 17.11.2015 | Pl LC-43/4 | Soyuz-2-1b Fregat | ||
| Kosmos 2518 (Tundra 12L, Kupol 12L, EKS #2) | 2017-027A | 25.05.2017 | Pl LC-43/4 | Soyuz-2-1b Fregat | ||
| Kosmos 2541 (Tundra 13L, Kupol 13L, EKS #3) | 2019-065A | 26.09.2019 | Pl LC-43/4 | Soyuz-2-1b Fregat | ||
| Kosmos 2546 (Tundra 14L, Kupol 14L, EKS #4) | 2020-031A | 22.05.2020 | Pl LC-43/4 | Soyuz-2-1b Fregat | ||
| Kosmos 2552 (Tundra 15L, Kupol 15L, EKS #5) | 2021-113A | 25.11.2021 | Pl LC-43/4 | Soyuz-2-1b Fregat | ||
| Kosmos 2563 (Tundra 16L, Kupol 16L, EKS #6) | 2022-145A | 02.11.2022 | Pl LC-43/4 | Soyuz-2-1b Fregat |
References:
- Bart Hendrickx: EKS: Russia’s space-based missile early warning system, in The Space Review, 8 February 2021
