Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency JPRS translation, dated 10 October 1990, reproduces a KRASNAYA ZVEZDA article by Lieutenant Colonel A. Dokuchayev about the Soviet outer space monitoring system (SKKP). Officers at its tracking center describe cataloging more than 7,000 orbital objects and tracking the fragments of a satellite that re-entered the atmosphere. They also describe helping the Soyuz T-13 crew find the silent Salyut-7 station. The article says center data showed the downed South Korean Boeing-747 flight in 1983 was synchronized with a Ferret-D reconnaissance satellite.
“The Pentagon”3 pages
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
## Document 7 of 16 'Several corrections in trajectory movement were made during the two-day automatic flight of the Soyuz T-13, as a result of which the spacecraft approached the Salyut-7 station at the prescribed distance. Further closing was executed by the crew manually with the use of a range determination apparatus and the onboard computer system.' It was not reported then that Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh executed the docking with the silent station that was 'lost'' by Mission Control Center, and that they found it only with the data that was issued from here, from the space tracking center. 25. ...Of course the collective does not live only with celestial distances. Here as in any garrison weddings are celebrated, apartments which are not in surplus are awaited impatiently, there is gossip about the shortage of commodities, there are holidays, and it is a blessing that the military facility is situated in a refreshing coniferous forest. But nevertheless, the main thing that determines everyone's mood is outer space, and more precisely monitoring it. When I tried to distract officers from discussions about work and to talk about everyday living matters, it did not always work out and they only steered away from the subject. They spoke with bitterness about the fact that frequently specialists from the space department took credit for the tracking center's work, and that they were being taken advantage of because of their secrecy. You see, no one else can spot falling fragments and pinpoint the coordinates of silent satellites... 26. Here in the tracking center they understand that the process of disarmament that has been started will not affect them--the outer space monitoring system will be needed even when there are no armies. The main concern is not to fall behind in the rapid exploration of outer space in order to secure their fellow citizens from various accidents. Indeed, the military danger from outer space has not been removed. On the days that I was in the tracking center, the Pentagon carried out a regular experiment in launching a powerful energy device within the framework of the ''Star Wars'' program. It appears that these warriors are assured this complex work for a long time. We will not shy away from giving credit to them for their unobtrusive work--so important and necessary in behalf of our security and peace--which for many years has been guarded by a curtain of secrecy.
Not linked to a story yet.
FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 5 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.