The Russian Space Forces are a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and other related protection for Russia. Having been reestablished following August 1, 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces after the independent arm of service was dissolved in 2011. The Russian Space Forces were originally formed on August 10, 1992, and the creation of the Russian Armed Forces. The organization shared control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome with the Russian Federal Space Agency. It also operated the Plesetsk and the Svobodny Cosmodromes. However the Russian Space Forces were dissolved in July 1997 and incorporated into the Strategic Missile Forces. The Russian Space Forces were once again reformed as an independent troop on June 1, 2001, under a military reorganization. However, by December 2011, it was dissolved once again and this time replaced by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. On August 1, 2015, the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces were merged to form the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Russian Space Forces were reestablished as a result, and are now one of three sub-branches of the new military branch.
History
In 1967 the Troops of Anti-Missile and Anti-Space Defence was formed under Lieutenant General of the Artillery Yuri Votintsev. They were reorganised as the Ministry of Defence Space Units in 1982. In 1991 the Soviet Union was broken up. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were established on May 7, 1992, enabling the creation of the Russian Space Force later that year on August 10. In July 1997 the Space Force was dissolved as a separate service arm and incorporated to the Strategic Missile Forces along with the Space Missile Defence Forces, which previously were part of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. In the view of some experts, this was a mistake that prevented the Russian military from developing space-based capabilities. Russian Public TV said of the merger: The Russian Space Forces were officially reborn on June 1, 2001, as an independent section of the Russian military. They regained independence under one of the many military reorganization plans of the mid-late 1990s. Colonel GeneralAnatoly Perminov was appointed to lead the new Space Forces. He was succeeded by General Vladimir Popovkin in 2004 and General Oleg Ostapenko in 2008 until dissolution in 2011. On August 1, 2015, the Space Forces were re-established as part of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Structure
The main tasks of the Russian Space Forces are informing the higher political leaders and military commanders of missile attacks as soon as possible, ballistic missile defence, and the creation, deployment, maintenance and control of in-orbit space vehicles, like the new Personareconnaissance satellite. For example, the Space Forces operate the GLONASSglobal positioning system; commander of the Space Forces Colonel General Vladimir Popovkin said in January 2006 that 18 GLONASS satellites would be in orbit by 2008. In October 2010 the system became fully operational. Formations of the Space Forces included the 3rd Missile-Space Defence Army, and a Division of Warning of Missile Attack, both with their headquarters at Solnechnogorsk near Moscow. Installations and assets include the Hantsavichy Radar Station in Belarus, along with a number of other large warning radars, and the A-135 anti-ballistic missile system which protects Moscow and the Peresvet anti-air laser combat system which protects strategic missiles. There is also an optical tracking facility, the Okno complex near the town of Nurek in central Tajikistan that is intended to monitor objects in space. The Okno is capable of tracking objects from Earth, the space forces said when it °was put on duty in 2002. The facility involves telescope-like equipment housed in several large spheres, similar to the U.S. GEODSS system.
