Gorizont (, ),

GRAU The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of ...

index 11F662, was a series of 35 Russian, previously

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

geosynchronous A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

s launched between 1978 and 2000. The program was started in order to develop a satellite system to relay coverage of the 1980 Olympic Games from

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. The first four satellites were originally launched for this sole purpose. Following this, the Gorizont system was integrated into the YeSSS Unified Satellite Communication System, and was used to relay both civilian and military communications. From 1988 onwards, the satellites were also used in support of the Okean program. Gorizont satellites were based on the KAUR-3

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

, which provided three-axis stabilisation, and liquid maneuvering engines. The Gorizont

satellite constellation A satellite constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together as a system. Unlike a single satellite, a constellation can provide permanent global or near-global pass (spaceflight), coverage, such that at any time everywhere on E ...

was replaced by the Ekspress constellation. The first satellite Gorizont-11L was launched on 19 December 1978 and the last satellite launched was Gorizont No.45L on 6 June 2000.

Broadcast

Following the 1980 Olympics, some of the surplus C-Band capacity on the satellites was used to distribute

Television in the Soviet Union Television in the Soviet Union was owned, controlled and censored by the state. The body governing television in the era of the Soviet Union was the Gosteleradio committee, which was responsible for both the Soviet Central Television and the A ...

both to relay transmitters within the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(where the vast physical size of the country made conventional distribution to remote areas difficult) and to other

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

and allied countries for relay to Soviet troops stationed there. Later programming from other

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

countries and

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

were added. Signals from these satellites spread well outside their intended area and were for a time very popular with early domestic

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

enthusiasts in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

as these were among the first such signals to be receivable there. In this application, Gorizont was (except at high latitudes) the successor to the '' Orbita system'' which used non-geostationary Molniya satellites. Gorizont represented an improvement in channel capacity and could be picked up on less elaborate receiving systems.

References

External links

Gorizont comsat
Communications satellites of the Soviet Union Communications satellites of Russia Satellites using the KAUR bus Communications satellite constellations Telecommunications-related introductions in 1978 {{communications-satellite-stub