On 23 June 1960 Korolev wrote to the Ministry of Defence, again trying to obtain support for a military orbital station (OS), on which a decision had been deferred to the end of the year. The station would have a crew of 3 to 5, orbited at 350 to 400 km altitude. The station would conduct military reconnaissance, control other spacecraft in orbit, and undertake basic space research. The N-I version of the station would have a mass of 25 to 30 tonnes and the N-II version 60 to 70 tonnes. Korolev pointed out that his design bureau had already completed a draft project, in which 14 work brigades had participated. Missions the station could accomplish included:

• Reconnaisance
• Combat operations against enemy spacecraft
• Strike against any point on earth
• Communications and relay functions
• Military applications studies
• Defence against enemy ballistic missiles
• Study of the space environment
• Study of the earth and planets
• Astronomical observations
• Weather observation
• Interorbital communications
• Study of the sun
• Biological research
• Radiation control studies

Korolev would not obtain a positive response to this proposal. As the N1 launch vehicle design grew, this intial OS grew into the much larger TKS of 1961.

Craft.Crew Size: 5. Total Mass: 30,000 kg.

Korolev wrote to the Ministry of Defence, trying to obtain support for a military orbital station (OS). The station would have a crew of 3 to 5, orbited at 350 to 400 km altitude. The station would conduct military reconnaissance, control other spacecraft in orbit, and undertake basic space research. The N-I version of the station would have a mass of 25 to 30 tonnes and the N-II version 60 to 70 tonnes. Korolev pointed out that his design bureau had already completed a draft project, in which 14 work brigades had participated.

• 283 - Vetrov, G S, S. P. Korolev i evo delo, Nauka, Moscow, 1998.