Krona space object recognition station ( rus, Радиооптический комплекс распознавания космических объектов «Крона», Radiooptichesky Kompleks raspoznavaniya kosmicheskikh obektov "Krona") is a Russian military complex which is used to identify objects (artificial satellites) in outer space using telescopes and radar. It is part of the Centre for Outer Space Monitoring of the Russian Space Forces. The first Krona is near the village of

Zelenchukskaya Zelenchukskaya (russian: Зеленчу́кская; krc, Зеленчук, ''Zelençuk'') is a rural locality (a '' stanitsa'') and the administrative center of Zelenchuksky District of the Karachay–Cherkess Republic, Russia,Appendix to ...

Karachay-Cherkessia The Karachay-Cherkess Republic (russian: Карача́ево-Черке́сская Респу́блика, ''Karachayevo-Cherkesskaya Respublika''; krc, Къарачай-Черкес Республика, ''Qaraçay-Çerkes Respublika''; Cir ...

, North Caucasus. There is another under construction in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

called Krona-N, near

Nakhodka Nakhodka ( rus, Нахо́дка, p=nɐˈxotkə) is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai. P ...

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...

. In 2007, the then commander of the Russian Space Forces Vladimir Popovkin said that the Nakhodka Krona would start in 2008, however there were no subsequent announcements. The Caucasian Krona consists of two complexes - an optical one located on Chapal mountain () above 2,000 metres and a radar installation 30 km away at a height of 1,300 metres (). One site for the Nakhodka Krona is , and this site does not have an optical component.

History

Krona was planned in the 1970s and onsite construction started in 1984. Testing started in 1994 and the site was operational in 1999. A laser optical locator (

lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

) was added in 2005. The original plan was for three sites - Zelenchukskaya, Nakhodka and another in the

Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range between Central Asia and Pakistan. It is located at a junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the worl ...

, the area Okno was built. The name ''krona'' (meaning 'crown') came from the appearance of the UHF band antenna which looked like a tree (''krona dereva'').

Facilities

The Caucasian Krona radar works in both the centimeter and decimeter bands. The

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

antenna is 20m x 20m and the SHF one consists of 5 rotating parabolic antennas which uses

interferometry Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber o ...

. According to a 2007 television programme the UHF radar first discovers an object and discerns its orbit and characteristics. Then further detail and precise coordinates are discovered using the SHF radar. The lidar then targets the object and reflected light is picked up by the telescope.

References

External links

Photograph of antenna from Vympel
{{Soviet Radar Russian Space Forces Military installations of Russia