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Article Number: 11F610. Code Name: Pchela. Class: Communications. Type: Military Store-dump. Nation: USSR. Manufacturer: NPO PM. Prototype of the large satellite element of the Strela system, which consisted of a large constellation of medium orbit store-dump satellites that provided survivable communictions for Soviet military and intelligence forces. The system was developed experimentally in the 1960's, with flight tests of 3 of the Strela-2 model from 1965 to 1968. The production Strela-2M was flown beginning in 1970.
SpecificationTotal Length: 3.0 m. Maximum Diameter: 2.0 m. Total Mass: 800 kg.
Strela-2 Chronology
31 October 1961
Kosmos 65S3 intermediate launch vehicle development authorised. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Creation of the Space Carrier 65S3--start of work on a launch vehicle based on the R-14 for launch of the Meteor, Strela, and Pchela satellites.' was issued.
28 December 1965
Cosmos 103 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3. Mass: 875 kg. Perigee: 176 km. Apogee: 179 km. Inclination: 56.0 deg. Possible test flight.
16 November 1966
Strela-2 Program: Strela. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65. FAILURE: Launch vehicle failed to orbit - unknown cause.
24 March 1967
Cosmos 151 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65. Mass: 875 kg. Perigee: 384 km. Apogee: 399 km. Inclination: 56.0 deg. Possible test flight.
15 June 1968
Strela-2 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65. FAILURE: Launch vehicle failed to orbit - unknown cause.
27 August 1968
Cosmos 236 Program: Strela. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 11K65. Mass: 875 kg. Perigee: 340 km. Apogee: 348 km. Inclination: 56.1 deg. Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.
Bibliography:- 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
- 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
- 102 - Voevodin, Sergey A, VSA072 - Space Apparatus, "Sergey A. Voevodin's Reports", . HTML when accessed: http://www.mcs.net/~rusaerog/sergeyv/VSA.html
- 445 - Melnik, T G, Voenno-Kosmicheskiy Siliy, Nauka, Moscow, 1997..
- 450 - Frolov, I, Kosmodrom, "Kratkiy istoricheskiy obzor sovietskikh (rossiyskikh) voennikh sredstv", No. 8, 1999, p. 21..
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Last update 12 March 2001.
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© Mark Wade, 2001 .