The KAUR (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: , Universal Spacecraft Series) program was a series of

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 ...

es designed and manufactured by ISS Reshetnev (then NPO PM). Its design is based on a pressurized bus originally developed in the 1960s and has been used from

low Earth Orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

medium Earth orbit A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level.

and even to GEO. It has four different generations and its different versions have been used from civilian communications to

satellite navigation A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geopositioning. A satellite navigation system with global coverage is termed global navigation satellite system (GNSS). , four global systems are ope ...

Generations

In total, 4 satellite platform generations were developed: KAUR-1, -2, -3 and -4. From 1965 to 2009, more than 400 communications satellites, both military and civilian, were built on the basis of these platforms and their upgraded versions.

KAUR-1

The KAUR-1 was a pressurised cylinder with a diameter of 2 m, length of 3 m and weighed 800 kg. It had no propulsion system, and instead used a passive single-axis magneto-gravity stabilisation system. The KAUR-1 bus became the basis for a series of navigation and related satellites built by OKB-10, later renamed NPO-PM and now ISS Reshetnev. The first generation of the bus was used on: *

Tsyklon The Tsyklon (, "Cyclone", also known as Tsiklon), GRAU index 11K67, was a Soviet-designed expendable launch system, primarily used to put Kosmos satellites into low Earth orbit in the late-1960s. It is based on the R-36 intercontinental ballist ...

Sfera SFera is a science fiction society from Zagreb, Croatia. It was founded in 1976, thus marking the beginnings of organized science fiction fandom in the region. SFera is the official organizer of SFeraKon, an annual Croatian science fiction conve ...

* Parus *

Tsikada Tsikada ( meaning ''cicada'') was a Soviet satellite navigation system including ten Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. It transmitted the same two carrier frequencies as the U.S. Transit (satellite), TRANSIT satellite system. The first satellite w ...

KAUR-2

The KAUR-2 was designed by

OKB-1 S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Korolev, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, th ...

(and later Reshetnev Company) for the Molniya satellites. It was originally an experimental bus, but after successful missions, was put into production. The bus had a sealed 2.5 cubic meter internal volume to stabilize the temperature. Its attitude control system could point with a 10° accuracy, and transmitted in the 10 m bands. Its propulsion system was derived from the Venera 1VA probes. It used the KDU-414 propulsion system and S5.31 engine from 1960 to 1974, after which it upgraded to the KDU-414A with the S5.114 engine. This had a

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine, such as a rocket engine, rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel, generates thrust. In general, this is a ratio of the ''Impulse (physics), ...

of 290 seconds. * Molniya-1+ * Molniya-1T * Molniya-2 * Molniya-3 * Molniya-3K

KAUR-3

This was developed in the 1960s for the first Russian geosynchronous communications satellites, for repeaters and TV broadcasts. It has a three-axis attitude control system with an accuracy of 0.25°, and independently tracking solar panels.· As part of the development, in July 1974 a Proton DM rocket put a Molniya-1 into geosynchronous orbit as a test communications methods. * Raduga * Ekran * Ekran-M *

Gorizont Gorizont (, ), GRAU index 11F662, was a series of 35 Russian, previously Soviet, geosynchronous communications satellites launched between 1978 and 2000. The program was started in order to develop a satellite system to relay coverage of the 1 ...

* Globus

KAUR-4

The KAUR-4 was designed for Russian geosynchronous satellites in the 1980s. It reached flight status in the 1990s. * Potok * Tselina * Luch * Gals (Ekspress) * Ekspress-A * Ekspress-AM * SESAT-1

Ekspress

While not presented as such, the

Ekspress Ekspress ( meaning Express), is a series of geostationary communications satellites owned by Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC). The first satellite of this kind was launched on 13 October 1994. The satellites are produced by the ...

satellite bus can be considered at least its replacement. It is an unpressurized bus originally designed for GEO, but that has been adapted for

and to

highly elliptical orbit A highly elliptical orbit (HEO) is an elliptic orbit with high eccentricity, usually referring to one around Earth. Examples of inclined HEO orbits include Molniya orbits, named after the Molniya Soviet communication satellites which used them, ...

References

External links

ISS Reshetnev
Satellite buses Communications satellites Satellites of Russia Satellites of the Soviet Union {{Russia-spacecraft-stub