| astronautix.com | Molniya-Yu |
The Soviet manned lunar programs needed new tracking methods - how to translate doppler and location readings into orbital parameters quickly in order to make manoeuvres in lunar and translunar orbit. To investigate this Ryazanskiy modified a Molniya-1 spacecraft with measuring systems in place of the retransmitter. This Molniya-Yu was used to confirm new methods of orbital measurement.