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In late 1960s- early 1970s the United States began works on studying of feasibility of using the outer space for performing combat activities in space and from space. The Government of the USSR by a set of Decrees (first one issued in 1976) assigned domestic activities in this field to a group of organizations-developers led by Energia NPO. During 1970s - 1980s the complex of research was performed to determine possible ways of creation of space means, capable of solving tasks of striking spacecraft of military destination, ballistic missiles in flight, as well as particularly important airborne, sea-borne and ground-based...

The Polyus military testbed was put together on a crash basis as an answer to America's Star Wars program. It was built around a surplus TKS manned spacecraft and was meant to test prototype ASAT and Star Wars defense systems. It failed to reach orbit, but it had succeeded, it would have been the core module of a new Mir-2 space station. Its mere presence could have decisively changed the shape of the Cold War in its final months. In 1985, it became clear that the Energia launch vehicle would be ready for launch before the Buran space shuttle that...

Leading Russian spacecraft producer Energia has presented a concept of a universal military satellite with offensive capabilities. The 20-ton orbiter with a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years would be powered by a 150 to 500 kilowatt nuclear reactor and will be able to “monitor territories and airspace, provide informational superiority – including in armed conflicts – and perform target designation and traffic control. It will also be offensive-capable,” said Energia head Vitaly Lopota, as cited by ITAR-TASS news agency. He did not specify what offensive capabilities the satellite would have; whether it will be able to target other...

The Soviet-era Buran space programme, mothballed 20 years ago, may be revived. With NASA about to retire its ageing fleet of space shuttles, there is a pressing need for viable space transport. Propeller Two decades ago the Soviet space shuttle Buran blasted off on its first and only orbital flight. Just a few years later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the programme was shelved. The Buran was the Soviet Union's answer to NASA’s space shuttle programme. On November 15, 1988, the shuttle was propelled out of the Earth’s atmosphere by the specially designed Energia booster rocket from the...

It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for...

It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for...

CONTRACT RELEASE: C07-028 NASA Awards Contract for Space Station Hardware HOUSTON - NASA has signed a $46 million fixed price basic contract with S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Public Corporation, also known as RSC Energia, in Korolev, Russia, for various hardware items and their integration into the International Space Station. The basic contract includes $19 million to purchase a Russian-designed toilet system with a privacy enclosure and additional space station equipment. The additional equipment includes a spare depress air pump used to conserve air when the crew exits the Quest airlock for a spacewalk; technical and engineering support for...

Soviet Union was developing laser space battle station Skif from beginning of 80's. Length: 37 meters Diameter: 4.1 meter Weight: around 80 tons It was supposed to be launched by Energia booster (same as for Buran shuttle) Unarmed prototype filled with scientific equipment was created around 1985 and launched 15 May 1987. It was failed to start operations and with the fall of Soviet Union project was scrapped. My father personally participated in this project (he also worked on Mir and International Space Station projects) and he was very dissapointed with this failure as i remember. It was big blow...