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| Strela-1 - Strela-1 prototype. Later spacecraft in the series are believed to be similar in appearance. 26,012 bytes. 260 x 388 pixels. |
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Class: Communications. Type: Military Store-dump. Nation: USSR. Prototype of the small satellite element of the Strela system, which consisted of a large constellation of medium orbit store-dump satellites that provided survivable communictions for Soviet military and intelligence forces. The system was developed experimentally in the 1960's, with flight tests of 26 of the Strela-1 model from 1964 to 1965. The production Strela-1M was flown beginning in 1970.
SpecificationTotal Length: 0.8 m. Maximum Diameter: 0.8 m. Total Mass: 50 kg.
Strela-1 Chronology
31 October 1961
Kosmos 65S3 intermediate launch vehicle development authorised. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Creation of the Space Carrier 65S3--start of work on a launch vehicle based on the R-14 for launch of the Meteor, Strela, and Pchela satellites.' was issued.
18 August 1964
Cosmos 39 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Mass: 50 kg. Perigee: 205 km. Apogee: 792 km. Inclination: 56.1 deg.
22 August 1964
Cosmos 42 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Kapustin Yar . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 63S1. Mass: 100 kg. Perigee: 228 km. Apogee: 1,105 km. Inclination: 48.9 deg.
23 October 1964
Strela-1 Program: Strela. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. FAILURE: Launch vehicle failed to orbit - unknown cause.
21 February 1965
Cosmos 56 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Mass: 50 kg. Perigee: 259 km. Apogee: 1,687 km. Inclination: 56.0 deg.
15 March 1965
Cosmos 63 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Mass: 50 kg. Perigee: 259 km. Apogee: 1,673 km. Inclination: 56.0 deg.
16 July 1965
Cosmos 74 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Mass: 50 kg. Perigee: 539 km. Apogee: 616 km. Inclination: 56.0 deg.
03 September 1965
Cosmos 83 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Mass: 50 kg. Perigee: 1,443 km. Apogee: 1,561 km. Inclination: 56.1 deg.
18 September 1965
Cosmos 89 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Mass: 50 kg. Perigee: 1,363 km. Apogee: 1,658 km. Inclination: 56.1 deg.
Bibliography:- 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
- 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
- 445 - Melnik, T G, Voenno-Kosmicheskiy Siliy, Nauka, Moscow, 1997..
- 450 - Frolov, I, Kosmodrom, "Kratkiy istoricheskiy obzor sovietskikh (rossiyskikh) voennikh sredstv", No. 8, 1999, p. 21..
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Last update 12 March 2001.
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© Mark Wade, 2001 .