S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF...

6
S E7C R E '"F DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE INTERAGENCY SECURITY CLASSIFICATION APPEALS PANEL, E.O. 13526, SECTION 5.3(b)(3) ISCAP APPEAL NO. 2009-068, document no. 263 DECLASSIFICATION DATE: May 14,2015

Transcript of S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF...

Page 1: S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE ... of u!Ung Transit, ... Cosmos 140 . flights, which

S E7C R E F

DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE INTERAGENCY SECURITY CLASSIFICATION APPEALS PANEL EO 13526 SECTION 53(b)(3)

ISCAP APPEAL NO 2009-068 document no 263 DECLASSIFICATION DATE May 142015

MAHAGING IIIITOII ___ Joloo W llvtMil

tUOCIATI EoiTObull middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot-middot Mdrow bullmo~

AIT IDITOt--middot-middot bullbull hhrl L luriotoh

Sl IILUSTIATOJbullbull- bullbull- trion W MrMvllln UNIO- IDITOl~bullbullbullbull- bullbullbull frdo A Doho

Philip Mcou

DITOR$bullbullbullbull middotbullmiddotmiddot---- bullbull 0 frlwfn fdmofrbullr Jono l bull

Cfo1U o bullbull Koliilo lDifOJtiAL AUISTANIS -lho 1 Joltoblon

Moty Mottuon

Coltlrlfgtolhol Aowlroigt r M L Leorlck IDIAV-4UIbull 2

s~ampi~A~t~middotmiddot 1~ ~---middot--middotmiddotmiddot Jph P St- IFSTCAMCI middotmiddotmiddot---- 9 Norbert H Go-IPST~cr bull _ 12 lolox c - - USAf rlllchbulll

l OoU_ u USN IIIIAU-1-11 0141 Wlltl- V lall Copt USAf IOitSr-2111 middotmiddot------middot-middot-middot 14 ~ tloopIDIAAMIIIbullbullbullbullbull____ 19

CIgtCwmiddot

lu Holo cfST~CI middot-middot--middot- 74f O Noll lnlhVSCI middot-middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot-middot 29

middot~ Holl Lt Col liSA IDIAAI--2A2J~- ~ Dotoold 0 r rich Copt ~c

IOIAAP-4111 or --middotmiddot-middot-middotmiddotmiddot middotmiddot- 34 f ti_c 11A

IOIAAPIAI -------middot-middotmiddotllllrAP--2Ut _

middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot VGeorg I ~ __ 40

M -

e middot

March 1968 bull Volume 6 bull Number 3

2

4

9

12

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24

29

32

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37

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Portion identified as nonshyresponsive to the appeal

UNITS of W clou sulgtmorlM rove fgten u~ttJ ro _ _ ASW eqlpmiddot ment for f11rtlter cletoifs kl Sowoitf ASW f Pbullrapccfiwoe on poft 4

FOREWORD

MISSION The mission of the month ly Diferse lntdligmce Digest i~ ro provide all compomnis of the D cpolrnnent of Defense and other Unitccl States agencies w ith timdy in tclligrncr of wide profcssiomtl inmiddot

WARNING This publication is cbsmiddot sificd secret because i t rcfiects intdlishygcncc collection efforts of the United S tates and contains information ~fmiddot fecting the national defense of Lhc United States within the meminr of the Espiuna~e Laws Tide 18 USC Sccrioo 793 and =ccdon 79~ Its transmission ur the revelation oi in contentS in anv manner to an unshyauthorized pc~n is prohibited by law tlthough the public~tion is marked middotNo Forci~ Dissemination artnin articles arc relcaSllblc co

tcrcst on sign ilicant devclopmbullnts and trends in the 111ilitat) capabili shyties 1 nd vvlncmigtjJities of foreign nations Emphasis is pbced middot prishym~ri l y on nlltion~ ~md fo re ~ within the Comn1unisr World

ebull

foreign governments however such rclcaStmiddot is controlkd IJmiddot rhe Defense lnLclligcnce gcncy

J~ EPI I I CARROLL lt (ncrill lSF Uirccto1r

March 1968 Seerebull 3

SUMMARY OF SOVIET (PACE)

EFFORTS IN 1967 Busedon ~be number of 11rmclit1gs tileyeatmiddot I9Q7 was the JIUJst (lcvt in tiJt blstory oftbc Sotbulltet~pace program Holtetmiddoter j()r a year that mnJmi the 5()1) ttJJIJilerwtry l)j tbe Bolrhevik RnoiIJirm and the lOth tnmivcrfdry oj the ft1middotst Spuhlilt the mtmhe- lf ~pacu ~peclttculars tvtJ much less thau Jtrf been ge~~erally a11ti~ipated

-ltcvcrd~e$ Soviet space launches during 1967 were ~lighd)bull more than R8 percet~~ middotsuecejlltll on~middot middotincluded some notwonhy accomplishmcms Of the 71 splttcc launchings mmptcdt 63 were succc~ul The tOtal wa~ 22 more than in I966 when tbgt lIICCC$~ rate was sIgh tly leSS rhan ll4 percent

Space mis~iOt)S rcprcsenteti the conshytinua-tion of a carefully planned spaeltmiddot progtam inclttding mannlt~d nnd t~r1-maniwd flight wiLh various t~chnical objcc rhmiddotes The objectives inclndcd dlmiddott-Jopment of miliuuy support middotsysshytems--middotmiddotrec-onnaiSl)aOcc UlCtcorologkru navlg11tion and communications satellites- a pmbabk space offensive weaponsystern lt1 manned amppltwdlightsystem vehicles for ncltW-eanh scicnmiddot-tific invcstigatious and capashy

blc of lunar and imerplanctary cnviromnental investigltion$

Reconnoissal1ce prosram

Twenty-two photorcconnaissancc Chicles WClC SUCCC$Sf~1lly launched during l9fi7_~-onc moJe than in 1966 Ten of thcse had a roil ca abilitY and carded u

SOXl and 3 E013526

t ttme mo1middote p otorcmiddot connaissance mis~ions were lauuchcdmiddot

ltgtm the lksetsk ~1~ssilc a11d SpaceComplex than from the middotTgtUratam Missile Test Range Thirteen missions

(I J frmn Plesetsk and 2 from Tyurashytam) used the nominal 65-dcgree inclinatipn of orbital plan to Lhc canh~ cqttawriaJ phme Three other

vehiclegt launched from PCsctsk used thc 72~tlegre~ inclination Thisiilclinl tion pro0dcs more COVltjA

~ of Alaska Canada and north~ ope Six missions Jaun4helti frcgtm

Tytitaram used dle 51-degree indlnashytion Tlre 51-degree incli1latiou norshy

DISPLAy odel o( CoJmOS 144 the flr~t ol fhrec SovMt middot mcteotofor~icoJ $Oicllite-s loon~rmiddot~ luccltmf41Jiy ilflo otblt auring1967

Delcmse Intelligence DigcentSt

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mally provides a longer duration ovctshythc United Staccs than docs the n5shygrcc indinltttion Sincc 8 June 1967 and with thlaunching from Plcsct~ of Cosmos164 all phOLoreconnaissance satellitehave been launch~d by the SL=launch system vhich consists of thbasic SS-6 boostcrsustaincr and ltlthird stage designated Venik ThSL-4 can i11jcct 12000 to 15000pounds into a 100-nautical-rnile earthorbit The SL- 3 launch system whichad been 11sed to launch the low-resoshylution satellite vchjclcs has not beenused for reconnaissance missio11s sincthe launching of Cosmos 157 on12 May 1967 The SL-3 system coushysists of the basic SS-6 boostersustainewith a third stage designated Lunik

Meteorological satellites

With the successful orbiriug oCosmos 144 on 28 FcbnampalY andCosmos 156 on 27 April 1967 theSoviets had nvo meteorological satclshylitcs operating simultaneously pershymitting coverage of the earth twiceeach 12-hour period Their orbitalplanes wcle nearly perpendicular toeach other

On 24 October a third metcorologishyl satellite Cosmos 184 was launchedm Plesetsk it probably will comshy

plement Cosmos 144 and Cosmos l56 botn of which have been in orbit for aconsiderable tim e

Communications sat~llitQs

The Soviets successfully placed fourcommunications satellites into orbitduring 1967 On 25 ~~fay rhc Scwicl News Agency TASS announctrl thelaunch of auolhcr communicationssatellite Molniya 1 TASS specifiedrhat the purpose of the lauJICh wa~to check further the experimentalCl(ploitatiou of a system of longshydistance two-way television telephone and telegraph radio comrmmications This was the fifth Molniya commushynications satdlitc launched from Ibulluratam The orbital parametersof the vJolniya I satellites arc dcsigntd for 1he vehicl e to spend a large partof every other orbit 0middoter the Sovic~t Union All ~iolniya siltcllitcs hanbeen placed in simila r orbi t~ althous-h Molniya 1 6 lau nched on 3 Ocrobcr had a highlr elliptical orpit 1 Somiddotiet aunounccmclll stltted that the purposeof the vehicle was to ltn5un exploitashytion middotor long-distance cmnrnunica tions Piying that with thi~ lmnching the viets now cousidend th~ Moloiya J

March 1968

system opcrntionol On 22 OctobeMolniya l 7 was successfully launchefrom Tyuratam and provided lhUSSR with a minirnJm of threacLivc comnnmications arellitcs wtelevise the celebrations of the 50t

anniversary of the Bolshevik Rcvolllshytion

NavigQtion satellites On 23 November thlt SL- U spalt(middot

lallnch system was ustd 10 injccr Cosmos 192 Into a near-circular orbit at an altilt1dlt of about 410 nautical m iles Cosmos 192 launched fro1n Plcs(uk probably was the USSRs first Soviet operating navigation sa tcJ lite The Soviets may be able to usc thcilmiddot satdlitc interchangeably with ltc middotUS Transit satclJitc s~-stcm since Cosmo~ 192 is transmitting on the same frcquctlcics ~~~ Transit The Soviets alJparcntly developed a system that allowltd th~m to take advantage of uUng Transit ye t cUtninarcd deshy

pcndcncc on il by providing an alternative in the event that their usc of Transit is denied

Scientific satellitcentS

Fourteen succcssfttl scientific satelshy

lites wcrc launched during 1967 seven from Yar six from Plcsctsk and one from ThC$C satellites usually condLICt ncalshyltanh scientific investigations including data collection for mcteorotogical tbulladiation solar plasma alld biological studies

The scientific mission of Cosmos 166 (launched on 16 June 1967 from Kapustin Yar) probably Wltl$ to monishytor solar radiation in the X-1middotay region of the electromagnetic spectrum Satelshylite mOtllitoling of solar X-rays may become ver~ importltlnt for prolonged manned earth orbital flight~ or manned lunar exploration Solar flMcs which produce laq~c quantities of high-eucrgy charged pilrticles gonshy

MOLNIY A 7 sot111itllS spend a largo amount of otamplf lirrart ovet the USSR

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ELECTRON h onltt of Slttvaral wtrllltlttj tbltgtt Monif~ tbe eorths roJiofion hits

~~----------~------------------------------

TWOsto~ 5S-6 is thr ootic propulsion system for thltgt SL-3 which vS~t$ tit lu~tllc tlirJ sta~ onJ tlr SL-4 wMclgt ur tlr Vt~tiflt

42 Stcrtt

eratc increased X-ray radiation Sin((gt tbe X-rays travel at the speed of light

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(186000 mites per second) they Xthe earth before the energetic partiand thus can be used as a warningsignal The sun hovever sometitYtCgemrates blrsts ofX-rays that an~ uofoUowed by dangtrouc lecls of cnclmiddotgctic particle radiation Data fromsatellites similar to Cosmos I 66 shouldprovide the So~middotiets with a basis fojudging the feasibili~ of U$intt 1gt11ch ltwarning system middot

Cosmos 165 wa~ lanncbed flornPlesct~ on 12 jtnc and its orbitalelements sugge~tcd a sdcntiiic ncurshyearth nwastrcmlt(H progTam in whichorbital changes were part o1 thltvariables

OFfensive military system

Developrnctlt (lf I fractional orbi lbon1bal1lment system (FOBS) conshytitluedmiddotln 1967 Actual fligln tesnng ofwhat was believed to be hardware fora FdBS lxgan in ~mbe1middot 1965Ten test flights were attempted during1967 eight were soccessful TheJOHS oper-ational and conumiddotol reshyquirementS wobull)ld b~ $inbullilar to thoseof an IGBM ill many res-pectgt Shch avehicle probably wm1ld lx~ targcteato at1ack (impact) on the iirst orbbut it Could be allowed 10 travel

Defense Intelligence Digest

1drcring the

oted miu io ns

Manned space flight acdvity during I 967 was hi~hliglncd on 23-24 tpril by the flight of Colonel Vladimir Komarov abwrd Soyuz- a new 14000- to 15000-pound space ship with maneuvering capabilities and tq

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uipped witJ t a docking collar It as the first Soviet manned 5pacc ght in more than two years Thl~ shr ended with the denth of Cosmiddot onaut Komarov after one day in bit After Soyuzmiddot l rt-Cntcrcd Lllc

earths atmosphere it became enshytangled in its own parachute lt~nd crashed i11to middot the earth from an a ltitude of seven kilometers about 23000 feet) according to TASS announcements

Man-rating of the Soyuz- typltshyspaceCImiddotaft occurred during the Cosmos 133 and Cosmos 140 flights which were launched on 28 November 1966 and 7 Febtmiddotuttmiddoty 1967 respectively Two other possibl) man-related misshysions were the flighcs of Cosmos 146 launched on 10 larch and Cosmos I

sye~pl

on 8 April 1967 Both were into low earth orbitS with

of approximately 52 de by the SL-12 space launch

stem The SL- 12 laund1 system is limatcd to have a cnpability of acing more than 50000 pound~ into

low ca1middottb orbit The SL- 12 is asSt-ssed also as having the capability of Sltnding a spacccraf such Js Soyuz- I ~round he moon and uack to cJrth

On 30 October 1967 tmiddoto untuanncd possiblr Soyuz-type 5pace vehicles aUtomaficallv tmiddotcndczvouscd and docked in otmiddoth ii TASS seated Lllat Cosmos l H8- middotthc passive target vehicle-w~~ injctecl into mmiddotbit rotnc 15 miles fro111 Cosmos 186-- thc comshymand module--which WiIS launched three days earlier and thlt chc middoteJoci ty difference bctwc~n the two craft was about 82 feet per second (abom 56 miles per hour) Sensors 01)

Cosmos lll6 picked up CltJsmos 188 (rhc target vehicle) almost immediately titer the Iauer achieved orbit and

Cosmos 186 approached to within 1000 feet of the target vchick before it had cobullnplctcd half a imiddotevolution I locking wa completed befcnmiddotc Cosmos

bull 188 made OUe te middotolution arottnd ihc lt1rth The svstcm usee to determine rela tive posi(ion of the ta~et vehicle

middot Ad ro apply thrust for closure was a nificant ltkvclopmcnt

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March 1968

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Interplanetary exploration nother spectacular space achieveshy

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i

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ment was the la1ancb of Vcnus-4 o12 June J967 This vehicle was jected ioro a trajectory towards Vcand t11adc middota soft lauding on planet on II October after a ronlontn flight Soviet p ress radio a nTV gamiddotc it cxccnsivc coverage The

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~oviet public annolnccmcm on 16 October that the United Killgdom Jodrcll Bank dcepmiddotpacc tracking faciity hld been requested to help track Venus-~ was a good indication that the mission was important to the Sovie8 and that thev desired ruJJ worldwide appreciatioi) of that filet or possibly were worried abom thehmiddot own tracking capabilities It was the II th known Soviet Venus probe attempt 1one of dH previltlus ltJLmiddot tcrnp ts had been comple tely successful although 5omc ofmiddot the ptmiddotobes tntnsshymillcd data from interplanetary space Vcnus-4 was a significant technological first and probably provided the ftrt a ctual knowledge of th entry d ensity of Venus

Prospects for 1968 Progrcs~h--c dcmiddotcloplllcnt of current

Soviet space programs arc expcctcd to continue throush 1968 unlcs~ COil middot strained by ccollom ic consicleratiolls or tcchtlological problerns The unshysuccccsful attempt to achieve what h as bcc11 ltlsltcsscd to be an unmanned mission on 22 rovcmbct 1967 nnd which vas suspccrecl of bcing a cir shycutnlunar mission may be a signpost of Soviet direction The lunar pro-

gram portends more manned and urunanned mi~ions wirl1 the Soyuzshytype spacecraft and greater usc of the SL- 12 launch systern The $Qvicts probably will launch several navigashytion sateiUtcs sin1ilar to Cosmos 192 v~fY likclr the SobullietS rna~middot attempt a manned circumlunar fli~b t before the end of I9GB Support rniSIions

for this flight could incllldc rendezshyvous and docking Qtbit maneuverin~ and unmanned circumlunar probes

The Soviets orr expected tn mainshytaina wmiddoton~ interest in imcrplanetary space ptmiddotoblt~ IVhilc the cxtet nature of this interest is not clear the number of scientific satellites in support of research for the imcrplatlCtary proshy~nun prqbably will include a middotaricty of scientific assignments Moreover manr of the c~pcrirncntations in ncar-earth space during 1968 arc expected tv lcJCIIS llHCnrion on the Soviet lon~middot l~rm conccpt of intcrshyplanctar) ttmiddotavel 1ni1ial ucmpL~ at consrntctiou of space platforms an strong possibilities lmprmmiddotcd comshymunications navigation and othetmiddot ncar-earth space operations may develop TC$ting- of rh~ FOBS probably will continue dmmiddoting 1968 The mili tan reconnaissance satellites algttgt arc ~middotxpeacd to be launched at the cnrrcn t ra te of about twltgt per Htonth l n vic of the expected number of lannchings the ytar IY6l should be tht mos t acti( in th( histor of the Soviet space program and with the rcilCtilmiddotttiou of tho miln-in-spacc pro~ra u t it should be far m or spcctac11lar th1n rhc year 1967 fF~Dj

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Seuel 43

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Page 2: S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE ... of u!Ung Transit, ... Cosmos 140 . flights, which

MAHAGING IIIITOII ___ Joloo W llvtMil

tUOCIATI EoiTObull middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot-middot Mdrow bullmo~

AIT IDITOt--middot-middot bullbull hhrl L luriotoh

Sl IILUSTIATOJbullbull- bullbull- trion W MrMvllln UNIO- IDITOl~bullbullbullbull- bullbullbull frdo A Doho

Philip Mcou

DITOR$bullbullbullbull middotbullmiddotmiddot---- bullbull 0 frlwfn fdmofrbullr Jono l bull

Cfo1U o bullbull Koliilo lDifOJtiAL AUISTANIS -lho 1 Joltoblon

Moty Mottuon

Coltlrlfgtolhol Aowlroigt r M L Leorlck IDIAV-4UIbull 2

s~ampi~A~t~middotmiddot 1~ ~---middot--middotmiddotmiddot Jph P St- IFSTCAMCI middotmiddotmiddot---- 9 Norbert H Go-IPST~cr bull _ 12 lolox c - - USAf rlllchbulll

l OoU_ u USN IIIIAU-1-11 0141 Wlltl- V lall Copt USAf IOitSr-2111 middotmiddot------middot-middot-middot 14 ~ tloopIDIAAMIIIbullbullbullbullbull____ 19

CIgtCwmiddot

lu Holo cfST~CI middot-middot--middot- 74f O Noll lnlhVSCI middot-middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot-middot 29

middot~ Holl Lt Col liSA IDIAAI--2A2J~- ~ Dotoold 0 r rich Copt ~c

IOIAAP-4111 or --middotmiddot-middot-middotmiddotmiddot middotmiddot- 34 f ti_c 11A

IOIAAPIAI -------middot-middotmiddotllllrAP--2Ut _

middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot VGeorg I ~ __ 40

M -

e middot

March 1968 bull Volume 6 bull Number 3

2

4

9

12

14

19

24

29

32

34

37

40

44

Portion identified as nonshyresponsive to the appeal

UNITS of W clou sulgtmorlM rove fgten u~ttJ ro _ _ ASW eqlpmiddot ment for f11rtlter cletoifs kl Sowoitf ASW f Pbullrapccfiwoe on poft 4

FOREWORD

MISSION The mission of the month ly Diferse lntdligmce Digest i~ ro provide all compomnis of the D cpolrnnent of Defense and other Unitccl States agencies w ith timdy in tclligrncr of wide profcssiomtl inmiddot

WARNING This publication is cbsmiddot sificd secret because i t rcfiects intdlishygcncc collection efforts of the United S tates and contains information ~fmiddot fecting the national defense of Lhc United States within the meminr of the Espiuna~e Laws Tide 18 USC Sccrioo 793 and =ccdon 79~ Its transmission ur the revelation oi in contentS in anv manner to an unshyauthorized pc~n is prohibited by law tlthough the public~tion is marked middotNo Forci~ Dissemination artnin articles arc relcaSllblc co

tcrcst on sign ilicant devclopmbullnts and trends in the 111ilitat) capabili shyties 1 nd vvlncmigtjJities of foreign nations Emphasis is pbced middot prishym~ri l y on nlltion~ ~md fo re ~ within the Comn1unisr World

ebull

foreign governments however such rclcaStmiddot is controlkd IJmiddot rhe Defense lnLclligcnce gcncy

J~ EPI I I CARROLL lt (ncrill lSF Uirccto1r

March 1968 Seerebull 3

SUMMARY OF SOVIET (PACE)

EFFORTS IN 1967 Busedon ~be number of 11rmclit1gs tileyeatmiddot I9Q7 was the JIUJst (lcvt in tiJt blstory oftbc Sotbulltet~pace program Holtetmiddoter j()r a year that mnJmi the 5()1) ttJJIJilerwtry l)j tbe Bolrhevik RnoiIJirm and the lOth tnmivcrfdry oj the ft1middotst Spuhlilt the mtmhe- lf ~pacu ~peclttculars tvtJ much less thau Jtrf been ge~~erally a11ti~ipated

-ltcvcrd~e$ Soviet space launches during 1967 were ~lighd)bull more than R8 percet~~ middotsuecejlltll on~middot middotincluded some notwonhy accomplishmcms Of the 71 splttcc launchings mmptcdt 63 were succc~ul The tOtal wa~ 22 more than in I966 when tbgt lIICCC$~ rate was sIgh tly leSS rhan ll4 percent

Space mis~iOt)S rcprcsenteti the conshytinua-tion of a carefully planned spaeltmiddot progtam inclttding mannlt~d nnd t~r1-maniwd flight wiLh various t~chnical objcc rhmiddotes The objectives inclndcd dlmiddott-Jopment of miliuuy support middotsysshytems--middotmiddotrec-onnaiSl)aOcc UlCtcorologkru navlg11tion and communications satellites- a pmbabk space offensive weaponsystern lt1 manned amppltwdlightsystem vehicles for ncltW-eanh scicnmiddot-tific invcstigatious and capashy

blc of lunar and imerplanctary cnviromnental investigltion$

Reconnoissal1ce prosram

Twenty-two photorcconnaissancc Chicles WClC SUCCC$Sf~1lly launched during l9fi7_~-onc moJe than in 1966 Ten of thcse had a roil ca abilitY and carded u

SOXl and 3 E013526

t ttme mo1middote p otorcmiddot connaissance mis~ions were lauuchcdmiddot

ltgtm the lksetsk ~1~ssilc a11d SpaceComplex than from the middotTgtUratam Missile Test Range Thirteen missions

(I J frmn Plesetsk and 2 from Tyurashytam) used the nominal 65-dcgree inclinatipn of orbital plan to Lhc canh~ cqttawriaJ phme Three other

vehiclegt launched from PCsctsk used thc 72~tlegre~ inclination Thisiilclinl tion pro0dcs more COVltjA

~ of Alaska Canada and north~ ope Six missions Jaun4helti frcgtm

Tytitaram used dle 51-degree indlnashytion Tlre 51-degree incli1latiou norshy

DISPLAy odel o( CoJmOS 144 the flr~t ol fhrec SovMt middot mcteotofor~icoJ $Oicllite-s loon~rmiddot~ luccltmf41Jiy ilflo otblt auring1967

Delcmse Intelligence DigcentSt

bull

fr

syslcms

middoto1middot t c rs

ga

Etumiddot

nltgttniual

mally provides a longer duration ovctshythc United Staccs than docs the n5shygrcc indinltttion Sincc 8 June 1967 and with thlaunching from Plcsct~ of Cosmos164 all phOLoreconnaissance satellitehave been launch~d by the SL=launch system vhich consists of thbasic SS-6 boostcrsustaincr and ltlthird stage designated Venik ThSL-4 can i11jcct 12000 to 15000pounds into a 100-nautical-rnile earthorbit The SL- 3 launch system whichad been 11sed to launch the low-resoshylution satellite vchjclcs has not beenused for reconnaissance missio11s sincthe launching of Cosmos 157 on12 May 1967 The SL-3 system coushysists of the basic SS-6 boostersustainewith a third stage designated Lunik

Meteorological satellites

With the successful orbiriug oCosmos 144 on 28 FcbnampalY andCosmos 156 on 27 April 1967 theSoviets had nvo meteorological satclshylitcs operating simultaneously pershymitting coverage of the earth twiceeach 12-hour period Their orbitalplanes wcle nearly perpendicular toeach other

On 24 October a third metcorologishyl satellite Cosmos 184 was launchedm Plesetsk it probably will comshy

plement Cosmos 144 and Cosmos l56 botn of which have been in orbit for aconsiderable tim e

Communications sat~llitQs

The Soviets successfully placed fourcommunications satellites into orbitduring 1967 On 25 ~~fay rhc Scwicl News Agency TASS announctrl thelaunch of auolhcr communicationssatellite Molniya 1 TASS specifiedrhat the purpose of the lauJICh wa~to check further the experimentalCl(ploitatiou of a system of longshydistance two-way television telephone and telegraph radio comrmmications This was the fifth Molniya commushynications satdlitc launched from Ibulluratam The orbital parametersof the vJolniya I satellites arc dcsigntd for 1he vehicl e to spend a large partof every other orbit 0middoter the Sovic~t Union All ~iolniya siltcllitcs hanbeen placed in simila r orbi t~ althous-h Molniya 1 6 lau nched on 3 Ocrobcr had a highlr elliptical orpit 1 Somiddotiet aunounccmclll stltted that the purposeof the vehicle was to ltn5un exploitashytion middotor long-distance cmnrnunica tions Piying that with thi~ lmnching the viets now cousidend th~ Moloiya J

March 1968

system opcrntionol On 22 OctobeMolniya l 7 was successfully launchefrom Tyuratam and provided lhUSSR with a minirnJm of threacLivc comnnmications arellitcs wtelevise the celebrations of the 50t

anniversary of the Bolshevik Rcvolllshytion

NavigQtion satellites On 23 November thlt SL- U spalt(middot

lallnch system was ustd 10 injccr Cosmos 192 Into a near-circular orbit at an altilt1dlt of about 410 nautical m iles Cosmos 192 launched fro1n Plcs(uk probably was the USSRs first Soviet operating navigation sa tcJ lite The Soviets may be able to usc thcilmiddot satdlitc interchangeably with ltc middotUS Transit satclJitc s~-stcm since Cosmo~ 192 is transmitting on the same frcquctlcics ~~~ Transit The Soviets alJparcntly developed a system that allowltd th~m to take advantage of uUng Transit ye t cUtninarcd deshy

pcndcncc on il by providing an alternative in the event that their usc of Transit is denied

Scientific satellitcentS

Fourteen succcssfttl scientific satelshy

lites wcrc launched during 1967 seven from Yar six from Plcsctsk and one from ThC$C satellites usually condLICt ncalshyltanh scientific investigations including data collection for mcteorotogical tbulladiation solar plasma alld biological studies

The scientific mission of Cosmos 166 (launched on 16 June 1967 from Kapustin Yar) probably Wltl$ to monishytor solar radiation in the X-1middotay region of the electromagnetic spectrum Satelshylite mOtllitoling of solar X-rays may become ver~ importltlnt for prolonged manned earth orbital flight~ or manned lunar exploration Solar flMcs which produce laq~c quantities of high-eucrgy charged pilrticles gonshy

MOLNIY A 7 sot111itllS spend a largo amount of otamplf lirrart ovet the USSR

aW e

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e

h

bull e

r

f

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e

rdte

h

Kapustin Tyuratano

ELECTRON h onltt of Slttvaral wtrllltlttj tbltgtt Monif~ tbe eorths roJiofion hits

~~----------~------------------------------

TWOsto~ 5S-6 is thr ootic propulsion system for thltgt SL-3 which vS~t$ tit lu~tllc tlirJ sta~ onJ tlr SL-4 wMclgt ur tlr Vt~tiflt

42 Stcrtt

eratc increased X-ray radiation Sin((gt tbe X-rays travel at the speed of light

ac

~ t shy r ~

i

c~ l~

shy

(186000 mites per second) they Xthe earth before the energetic partiand thus can be used as a warningsignal The sun hovever sometitYtCgemrates blrsts ofX-rays that an~ uofoUowed by dangtrouc lecls of cnclmiddotgctic particle radiation Data fromsatellites similar to Cosmos I 66 shouldprovide the So~middotiets with a basis fojudging the feasibili~ of U$intt 1gt11ch ltwarning system middot

Cosmos 165 wa~ lanncbed flornPlesct~ on 12 jtnc and its orbitalelements sugge~tcd a sdcntiiic ncurshyearth nwastrcmlt(H progTam in whichorbital changes were part o1 thltvariables

OFfensive military system

Developrnctlt (lf I fractional orbi lbon1bal1lment system (FOBS) conshytitluedmiddotln 1967 Actual fligln tesnng ofwhat was believed to be hardware fora FdBS lxgan in ~mbe1middot 1965Ten test flights were attempted during1967 eight were soccessful TheJOHS oper-ational and conumiddotol reshyquirementS wobull)ld b~ $inbullilar to thoseof an IGBM ill many res-pectgt Shch avehicle probably wm1ld lx~ targcteato at1ack (impact) on the iirst orbbut it Could be allowed 10 travel

Defense Intelligence Digest

1drcring the

oted miu io ns

Manned space flight acdvity during I 967 was hi~hliglncd on 23-24 tpril by the flight of Colonel Vladimir Komarov abwrd Soyuz- a new 14000- to 15000-pound space ship with maneuvering capabilities and tq

bull w fli

Ribull n

or

uipped witJ t a docking collar It as the first Soviet manned 5pacc ght in more than two years Thl~ shr ended with the denth of Cosmiddot onaut Komarov after one day in bit After Soyuzmiddot l rt-Cntcrcd Lllc

earths atmosphere it became enshytangled in its own parachute lt~nd crashed i11to middot the earth from an a ltitude of seven kilometers about 23000 feet) according to TASS announcements

Man-rating of the Soyuz- typltshyspaceCImiddotaft occurred during the Cosmos 133 and Cosmos 140 flights which were launched on 28 November 1966 and 7 Febtmiddotuttmiddoty 1967 respectively Two other possibl) man-related misshysions were the flighcs of Cosmos 146 launched on 10 larch and Cosmos I

sye~pl

on 8 April 1967 Both were into low earth orbitS with

of approximately 52 de by the SL-12 space launch

stem The SL- 12 laund1 system is limatcd to have a cnpability of acing more than 50000 pound~ into

low ca1middottb orbit The SL- 12 is asSt-ssed also as having the capability of Sltnding a spacccraf such Js Soyuz- I ~round he moon and uack to cJrth

On 30 October 1967 tmiddoto untuanncd possiblr Soyuz-type 5pace vehicles aUtomaficallv tmiddotcndczvouscd and docked in otmiddoth ii TASS seated Lllat Cosmos l H8- middotthc passive target vehicle-w~~ injctecl into mmiddotbit rotnc 15 miles fro111 Cosmos 186-- thc comshymand module--which WiIS launched three days earlier and thlt chc middoteJoci ty difference bctwc~n the two craft was about 82 feet per second (abom 56 miles per hour) Sensors 01)

Cosmos lll6 picked up CltJsmos 188 (rhc target vehicle) almost immediately titer the Iauer achieved orbit and

Cosmos 186 approached to within 1000 feet of the target vchick before it had cobullnplctcd half a imiddotevolution I locking wa completed befcnmiddotc Cosmos

bull 188 made OUe te middotolution arottnd ihc lt1rth The svstcm usee to determine rela tive posi(ion of the ta~et vehicle

middot Ad ro apply thrust for closure was a nificant ltkvclopmcnt

shy

March 1968

bull

Interplanetary exploration nother spectacular space achieveshy

n

d

ne r

i

nuthu

ment was the la1ancb of Vcnus-4 o12 June J967 This vehicle was jected ioro a trajectory towards Vcand t11adc middota soft lauding on planet on II October after a ronlontn flight Soviet p ress radio a nTV gamiddotc it cxccnsivc coverage The

shy

shy

~oviet public annolnccmcm on 16 October that the United Killgdom Jodrcll Bank dcepmiddotpacc tracking faciity hld been requested to help track Venus-~ was a good indication that the mission was important to the Sovie8 and that thev desired ruJJ worldwide appreciatioi) of that filet or possibly were worried abom thehmiddot own tracking capabilities It was the II th known Soviet Venus probe attempt 1one of dH previltlus ltJLmiddot tcrnp ts had been comple tely successful although 5omc ofmiddot the ptmiddotobes tntnsshymillcd data from interplanetary space Vcnus-4 was a significant technological first and probably provided the ftrt a ctual knowledge of th entry d ensity of Venus

Prospects for 1968 Progrcs~h--c dcmiddotcloplllcnt of current

Soviet space programs arc expcctcd to continue throush 1968 unlcs~ COil middot strained by ccollom ic consicleratiolls or tcchtlological problerns The unshysuccccsful attempt to achieve what h as bcc11 ltlsltcsscd to be an unmanned mission on 22 rovcmbct 1967 nnd which vas suspccrecl of bcing a cir shycutnlunar mission may be a signpost of Soviet direction The lunar pro-

gram portends more manned and urunanned mi~ions wirl1 the Soyuzshytype spacecraft and greater usc of the SL- 12 launch systern The $Qvicts probably will launch several navigashytion sateiUtcs sin1ilar to Cosmos 192 v~fY likclr the SobullietS rna~middot attempt a manned circumlunar fli~b t before the end of I9GB Support rniSIions

for this flight could incllldc rendezshyvous and docking Qtbit maneuverin~ and unmanned circumlunar probes

The Soviets orr expected tn mainshytaina wmiddoton~ interest in imcrplanetary space ptmiddotoblt~ IVhilc the cxtet nature of this interest is not clear the number of scientific satellites in support of research for the imcrplatlCtary proshy~nun prqbably will include a middotaricty of scientific assignments Moreover manr of the c~pcrirncntations in ncar-earth space during 1968 arc expected tv lcJCIIS llHCnrion on the Soviet lon~middot l~rm conccpt of intcrshyplanctar) ttmiddotavel 1ni1ial ucmpL~ at consrntctiou of space platforms an strong possibilities lmprmmiddotcd comshymunications navigation and othetmiddot ncar-earth space operations may develop TC$ting- of rh~ FOBS probably will continue dmmiddoting 1968 The mili tan reconnaissance satellites algttgt arc ~middotxpeacd to be launched at the cnrrcn t ra te of about twltgt per Htonth l n vic of the expected number of lannchings the ytar IY6l should be tht mos t acti( in th( histor of the Soviet space program and with the rcilCtilmiddotttiou of tho miln-in-spacc pro~ra u t it should be far m or spcctac11lar th1n rhc year 1967 fF~Dj

shy

Seuel 43

l shy

Page 3: S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE ... of u!Ung Transit, ... Cosmos 140 . flights, which

SUMMARY OF SOVIET (PACE)

EFFORTS IN 1967 Busedon ~be number of 11rmclit1gs tileyeatmiddot I9Q7 was the JIUJst (lcvt in tiJt blstory oftbc Sotbulltet~pace program Holtetmiddoter j()r a year that mnJmi the 5()1) ttJJIJilerwtry l)j tbe Bolrhevik RnoiIJirm and the lOth tnmivcrfdry oj the ft1middotst Spuhlilt the mtmhe- lf ~pacu ~peclttculars tvtJ much less thau Jtrf been ge~~erally a11ti~ipated

-ltcvcrd~e$ Soviet space launches during 1967 were ~lighd)bull more than R8 percet~~ middotsuecejlltll on~middot middotincluded some notwonhy accomplishmcms Of the 71 splttcc launchings mmptcdt 63 were succc~ul The tOtal wa~ 22 more than in I966 when tbgt lIICCC$~ rate was sIgh tly leSS rhan ll4 percent

Space mis~iOt)S rcprcsenteti the conshytinua-tion of a carefully planned spaeltmiddot progtam inclttding mannlt~d nnd t~r1-maniwd flight wiLh various t~chnical objcc rhmiddotes The objectives inclndcd dlmiddott-Jopment of miliuuy support middotsysshytems--middotmiddotrec-onnaiSl)aOcc UlCtcorologkru navlg11tion and communications satellites- a pmbabk space offensive weaponsystern lt1 manned amppltwdlightsystem vehicles for ncltW-eanh scicnmiddot-tific invcstigatious and capashy

blc of lunar and imerplanctary cnviromnental investigltion$

Reconnoissal1ce prosram

Twenty-two photorcconnaissancc Chicles WClC SUCCC$Sf~1lly launched during l9fi7_~-onc moJe than in 1966 Ten of thcse had a roil ca abilitY and carded u

SOXl and 3 E013526

t ttme mo1middote p otorcmiddot connaissance mis~ions were lauuchcdmiddot

ltgtm the lksetsk ~1~ssilc a11d SpaceComplex than from the middotTgtUratam Missile Test Range Thirteen missions

(I J frmn Plesetsk and 2 from Tyurashytam) used the nominal 65-dcgree inclinatipn of orbital plan to Lhc canh~ cqttawriaJ phme Three other

vehiclegt launched from PCsctsk used thc 72~tlegre~ inclination Thisiilclinl tion pro0dcs more COVltjA

~ of Alaska Canada and north~ ope Six missions Jaun4helti frcgtm

Tytitaram used dle 51-degree indlnashytion Tlre 51-degree incli1latiou norshy

DISPLAy odel o( CoJmOS 144 the flr~t ol fhrec SovMt middot mcteotofor~icoJ $Oicllite-s loon~rmiddot~ luccltmf41Jiy ilflo otblt auring1967

Delcmse Intelligence DigcentSt

bull

fr

syslcms

middoto1middot t c rs

ga

Etumiddot

nltgttniual

mally provides a longer duration ovctshythc United Staccs than docs the n5shygrcc indinltttion Sincc 8 June 1967 and with thlaunching from Plcsct~ of Cosmos164 all phOLoreconnaissance satellitehave been launch~d by the SL=launch system vhich consists of thbasic SS-6 boostcrsustaincr and ltlthird stage designated Venik ThSL-4 can i11jcct 12000 to 15000pounds into a 100-nautical-rnile earthorbit The SL- 3 launch system whichad been 11sed to launch the low-resoshylution satellite vchjclcs has not beenused for reconnaissance missio11s sincthe launching of Cosmos 157 on12 May 1967 The SL-3 system coushysists of the basic SS-6 boostersustainewith a third stage designated Lunik

Meteorological satellites

With the successful orbiriug oCosmos 144 on 28 FcbnampalY andCosmos 156 on 27 April 1967 theSoviets had nvo meteorological satclshylitcs operating simultaneously pershymitting coverage of the earth twiceeach 12-hour period Their orbitalplanes wcle nearly perpendicular toeach other

On 24 October a third metcorologishyl satellite Cosmos 184 was launchedm Plesetsk it probably will comshy

plement Cosmos 144 and Cosmos l56 botn of which have been in orbit for aconsiderable tim e

Communications sat~llitQs

The Soviets successfully placed fourcommunications satellites into orbitduring 1967 On 25 ~~fay rhc Scwicl News Agency TASS announctrl thelaunch of auolhcr communicationssatellite Molniya 1 TASS specifiedrhat the purpose of the lauJICh wa~to check further the experimentalCl(ploitatiou of a system of longshydistance two-way television telephone and telegraph radio comrmmications This was the fifth Molniya commushynications satdlitc launched from Ibulluratam The orbital parametersof the vJolniya I satellites arc dcsigntd for 1he vehicl e to spend a large partof every other orbit 0middoter the Sovic~t Union All ~iolniya siltcllitcs hanbeen placed in simila r orbi t~ althous-h Molniya 1 6 lau nched on 3 Ocrobcr had a highlr elliptical orpit 1 Somiddotiet aunounccmclll stltted that the purposeof the vehicle was to ltn5un exploitashytion middotor long-distance cmnrnunica tions Piying that with thi~ lmnching the viets now cousidend th~ Moloiya J

March 1968

system opcrntionol On 22 OctobeMolniya l 7 was successfully launchefrom Tyuratam and provided lhUSSR with a minirnJm of threacLivc comnnmications arellitcs wtelevise the celebrations of the 50t

anniversary of the Bolshevik Rcvolllshytion

NavigQtion satellites On 23 November thlt SL- U spalt(middot

lallnch system was ustd 10 injccr Cosmos 192 Into a near-circular orbit at an altilt1dlt of about 410 nautical m iles Cosmos 192 launched fro1n Plcs(uk probably was the USSRs first Soviet operating navigation sa tcJ lite The Soviets may be able to usc thcilmiddot satdlitc interchangeably with ltc middotUS Transit satclJitc s~-stcm since Cosmo~ 192 is transmitting on the same frcquctlcics ~~~ Transit The Soviets alJparcntly developed a system that allowltd th~m to take advantage of uUng Transit ye t cUtninarcd deshy

pcndcncc on il by providing an alternative in the event that their usc of Transit is denied

Scientific satellitcentS

Fourteen succcssfttl scientific satelshy

lites wcrc launched during 1967 seven from Yar six from Plcsctsk and one from ThC$C satellites usually condLICt ncalshyltanh scientific investigations including data collection for mcteorotogical tbulladiation solar plasma alld biological studies

The scientific mission of Cosmos 166 (launched on 16 June 1967 from Kapustin Yar) probably Wltl$ to monishytor solar radiation in the X-1middotay region of the electromagnetic spectrum Satelshylite mOtllitoling of solar X-rays may become ver~ importltlnt for prolonged manned earth orbital flight~ or manned lunar exploration Solar flMcs which produce laq~c quantities of high-eucrgy charged pilrticles gonshy

MOLNIY A 7 sot111itllS spend a largo amount of otamplf lirrart ovet the USSR

aW e

s 4 e

e

h

bull e

r

f

a ~

AW

e

rdte

h

Kapustin Tyuratano

ELECTRON h onltt of Slttvaral wtrllltlttj tbltgtt Monif~ tbe eorths roJiofion hits

~~----------~------------------------------

TWOsto~ 5S-6 is thr ootic propulsion system for thltgt SL-3 which vS~t$ tit lu~tllc tlirJ sta~ onJ tlr SL-4 wMclgt ur tlr Vt~tiflt

42 Stcrtt

eratc increased X-ray radiation Sin((gt tbe X-rays travel at the speed of light

ac

~ t shy r ~

i

c~ l~

shy

(186000 mites per second) they Xthe earth before the energetic partiand thus can be used as a warningsignal The sun hovever sometitYtCgemrates blrsts ofX-rays that an~ uofoUowed by dangtrouc lecls of cnclmiddotgctic particle radiation Data fromsatellites similar to Cosmos I 66 shouldprovide the So~middotiets with a basis fojudging the feasibili~ of U$intt 1gt11ch ltwarning system middot

Cosmos 165 wa~ lanncbed flornPlesct~ on 12 jtnc and its orbitalelements sugge~tcd a sdcntiiic ncurshyearth nwastrcmlt(H progTam in whichorbital changes were part o1 thltvariables

OFfensive military system

Developrnctlt (lf I fractional orbi lbon1bal1lment system (FOBS) conshytitluedmiddotln 1967 Actual fligln tesnng ofwhat was believed to be hardware fora FdBS lxgan in ~mbe1middot 1965Ten test flights were attempted during1967 eight were soccessful TheJOHS oper-ational and conumiddotol reshyquirementS wobull)ld b~ $inbullilar to thoseof an IGBM ill many res-pectgt Shch avehicle probably wm1ld lx~ targcteato at1ack (impact) on the iirst orbbut it Could be allowed 10 travel

Defense Intelligence Digest

1drcring the

oted miu io ns

Manned space flight acdvity during I 967 was hi~hliglncd on 23-24 tpril by the flight of Colonel Vladimir Komarov abwrd Soyuz- a new 14000- to 15000-pound space ship with maneuvering capabilities and tq

bull w fli

Ribull n

or

uipped witJ t a docking collar It as the first Soviet manned 5pacc ght in more than two years Thl~ shr ended with the denth of Cosmiddot onaut Komarov after one day in bit After Soyuzmiddot l rt-Cntcrcd Lllc

earths atmosphere it became enshytangled in its own parachute lt~nd crashed i11to middot the earth from an a ltitude of seven kilometers about 23000 feet) according to TASS announcements

Man-rating of the Soyuz- typltshyspaceCImiddotaft occurred during the Cosmos 133 and Cosmos 140 flights which were launched on 28 November 1966 and 7 Febtmiddotuttmiddoty 1967 respectively Two other possibl) man-related misshysions were the flighcs of Cosmos 146 launched on 10 larch and Cosmos I

sye~pl

on 8 April 1967 Both were into low earth orbitS with

of approximately 52 de by the SL-12 space launch

stem The SL- 12 laund1 system is limatcd to have a cnpability of acing more than 50000 pound~ into

low ca1middottb orbit The SL- 12 is asSt-ssed also as having the capability of Sltnding a spacccraf such Js Soyuz- I ~round he moon and uack to cJrth

On 30 October 1967 tmiddoto untuanncd possiblr Soyuz-type 5pace vehicles aUtomaficallv tmiddotcndczvouscd and docked in otmiddoth ii TASS seated Lllat Cosmos l H8- middotthc passive target vehicle-w~~ injctecl into mmiddotbit rotnc 15 miles fro111 Cosmos 186-- thc comshymand module--which WiIS launched three days earlier and thlt chc middoteJoci ty difference bctwc~n the two craft was about 82 feet per second (abom 56 miles per hour) Sensors 01)

Cosmos lll6 picked up CltJsmos 188 (rhc target vehicle) almost immediately titer the Iauer achieved orbit and

Cosmos 186 approached to within 1000 feet of the target vchick before it had cobullnplctcd half a imiddotevolution I locking wa completed befcnmiddotc Cosmos

bull 188 made OUe te middotolution arottnd ihc lt1rth The svstcm usee to determine rela tive posi(ion of the ta~et vehicle

middot Ad ro apply thrust for closure was a nificant ltkvclopmcnt

shy

March 1968

bull

Interplanetary exploration nother spectacular space achieveshy

n

d

ne r

i

nuthu

ment was the la1ancb of Vcnus-4 o12 June J967 This vehicle was jected ioro a trajectory towards Vcand t11adc middota soft lauding on planet on II October after a ronlontn flight Soviet p ress radio a nTV gamiddotc it cxccnsivc coverage The

shy

shy

~oviet public annolnccmcm on 16 October that the United Killgdom Jodrcll Bank dcepmiddotpacc tracking faciity hld been requested to help track Venus-~ was a good indication that the mission was important to the Sovie8 and that thev desired ruJJ worldwide appreciatioi) of that filet or possibly were worried abom thehmiddot own tracking capabilities It was the II th known Soviet Venus probe attempt 1one of dH previltlus ltJLmiddot tcrnp ts had been comple tely successful although 5omc ofmiddot the ptmiddotobes tntnsshymillcd data from interplanetary space Vcnus-4 was a significant technological first and probably provided the ftrt a ctual knowledge of th entry d ensity of Venus

Prospects for 1968 Progrcs~h--c dcmiddotcloplllcnt of current

Soviet space programs arc expcctcd to continue throush 1968 unlcs~ COil middot strained by ccollom ic consicleratiolls or tcchtlological problerns The unshysuccccsful attempt to achieve what h as bcc11 ltlsltcsscd to be an unmanned mission on 22 rovcmbct 1967 nnd which vas suspccrecl of bcing a cir shycutnlunar mission may be a signpost of Soviet direction The lunar pro-

gram portends more manned and urunanned mi~ions wirl1 the Soyuzshytype spacecraft and greater usc of the SL- 12 launch systern The $Qvicts probably will launch several navigashytion sateiUtcs sin1ilar to Cosmos 192 v~fY likclr the SobullietS rna~middot attempt a manned circumlunar fli~b t before the end of I9GB Support rniSIions

for this flight could incllldc rendezshyvous and docking Qtbit maneuverin~ and unmanned circumlunar probes

The Soviets orr expected tn mainshytaina wmiddoton~ interest in imcrplanetary space ptmiddotoblt~ IVhilc the cxtet nature of this interest is not clear the number of scientific satellites in support of research for the imcrplatlCtary proshy~nun prqbably will include a middotaricty of scientific assignments Moreover manr of the c~pcrirncntations in ncar-earth space during 1968 arc expected tv lcJCIIS llHCnrion on the Soviet lon~middot l~rm conccpt of intcrshyplanctar) ttmiddotavel 1ni1ial ucmpL~ at consrntctiou of space platforms an strong possibilities lmprmmiddotcd comshymunications navigation and othetmiddot ncar-earth space operations may develop TC$ting- of rh~ FOBS probably will continue dmmiddoting 1968 The mili tan reconnaissance satellites algttgt arc ~middotxpeacd to be launched at the cnrrcn t ra te of about twltgt per Htonth l n vic of the expected number of lannchings the ytar IY6l should be tht mos t acti( in th( histor of the Soviet space program and with the rcilCtilmiddotttiou of tho miln-in-spacc pro~ra u t it should be far m or spcctac11lar th1n rhc year 1967 fF~Dj

shy

Seuel 43

l shy

Page 4: S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE ... of u!Ung Transit, ... Cosmos 140 . flights, which

mally provides a longer duration ovctshythc United Staccs than docs the n5shygrcc indinltttion Sincc 8 June 1967 and with thlaunching from Plcsct~ of Cosmos164 all phOLoreconnaissance satellitehave been launch~d by the SL=launch system vhich consists of thbasic SS-6 boostcrsustaincr and ltlthird stage designated Venik ThSL-4 can i11jcct 12000 to 15000pounds into a 100-nautical-rnile earthorbit The SL- 3 launch system whichad been 11sed to launch the low-resoshylution satellite vchjclcs has not beenused for reconnaissance missio11s sincthe launching of Cosmos 157 on12 May 1967 The SL-3 system coushysists of the basic SS-6 boostersustainewith a third stage designated Lunik

Meteorological satellites

With the successful orbiriug oCosmos 144 on 28 FcbnampalY andCosmos 156 on 27 April 1967 theSoviets had nvo meteorological satclshylitcs operating simultaneously pershymitting coverage of the earth twiceeach 12-hour period Their orbitalplanes wcle nearly perpendicular toeach other

On 24 October a third metcorologishyl satellite Cosmos 184 was launchedm Plesetsk it probably will comshy

plement Cosmos 144 and Cosmos l56 botn of which have been in orbit for aconsiderable tim e

Communications sat~llitQs

The Soviets successfully placed fourcommunications satellites into orbitduring 1967 On 25 ~~fay rhc Scwicl News Agency TASS announctrl thelaunch of auolhcr communicationssatellite Molniya 1 TASS specifiedrhat the purpose of the lauJICh wa~to check further the experimentalCl(ploitatiou of a system of longshydistance two-way television telephone and telegraph radio comrmmications This was the fifth Molniya commushynications satdlitc launched from Ibulluratam The orbital parametersof the vJolniya I satellites arc dcsigntd for 1he vehicl e to spend a large partof every other orbit 0middoter the Sovic~t Union All ~iolniya siltcllitcs hanbeen placed in simila r orbi t~ althous-h Molniya 1 6 lau nched on 3 Ocrobcr had a highlr elliptical orpit 1 Somiddotiet aunounccmclll stltted that the purposeof the vehicle was to ltn5un exploitashytion middotor long-distance cmnrnunica tions Piying that with thi~ lmnching the viets now cousidend th~ Moloiya J

March 1968

system opcrntionol On 22 OctobeMolniya l 7 was successfully launchefrom Tyuratam and provided lhUSSR with a minirnJm of threacLivc comnnmications arellitcs wtelevise the celebrations of the 50t

anniversary of the Bolshevik Rcvolllshytion

NavigQtion satellites On 23 November thlt SL- U spalt(middot

lallnch system was ustd 10 injccr Cosmos 192 Into a near-circular orbit at an altilt1dlt of about 410 nautical m iles Cosmos 192 launched fro1n Plcs(uk probably was the USSRs first Soviet operating navigation sa tcJ lite The Soviets may be able to usc thcilmiddot satdlitc interchangeably with ltc middotUS Transit satclJitc s~-stcm since Cosmo~ 192 is transmitting on the same frcquctlcics ~~~ Transit The Soviets alJparcntly developed a system that allowltd th~m to take advantage of uUng Transit ye t cUtninarcd deshy

pcndcncc on il by providing an alternative in the event that their usc of Transit is denied

Scientific satellitcentS

Fourteen succcssfttl scientific satelshy

lites wcrc launched during 1967 seven from Yar six from Plcsctsk and one from ThC$C satellites usually condLICt ncalshyltanh scientific investigations including data collection for mcteorotogical tbulladiation solar plasma alld biological studies

The scientific mission of Cosmos 166 (launched on 16 June 1967 from Kapustin Yar) probably Wltl$ to monishytor solar radiation in the X-1middotay region of the electromagnetic spectrum Satelshylite mOtllitoling of solar X-rays may become ver~ importltlnt for prolonged manned earth orbital flight~ or manned lunar exploration Solar flMcs which produce laq~c quantities of high-eucrgy charged pilrticles gonshy

MOLNIY A 7 sot111itllS spend a largo amount of otamplf lirrart ovet the USSR

aW e

s 4 e

e

h

bull e

r

f

a ~

AW

e

rdte

h

Kapustin Tyuratano

ELECTRON h onltt of Slttvaral wtrllltlttj tbltgtt Monif~ tbe eorths roJiofion hits

~~----------~------------------------------

TWOsto~ 5S-6 is thr ootic propulsion system for thltgt SL-3 which vS~t$ tit lu~tllc tlirJ sta~ onJ tlr SL-4 wMclgt ur tlr Vt~tiflt

42 Stcrtt

eratc increased X-ray radiation Sin((gt tbe X-rays travel at the speed of light

ac

~ t shy r ~

i

c~ l~

shy

(186000 mites per second) they Xthe earth before the energetic partiand thus can be used as a warningsignal The sun hovever sometitYtCgemrates blrsts ofX-rays that an~ uofoUowed by dangtrouc lecls of cnclmiddotgctic particle radiation Data fromsatellites similar to Cosmos I 66 shouldprovide the So~middotiets with a basis fojudging the feasibili~ of U$intt 1gt11ch ltwarning system middot

Cosmos 165 wa~ lanncbed flornPlesct~ on 12 jtnc and its orbitalelements sugge~tcd a sdcntiiic ncurshyearth nwastrcmlt(H progTam in whichorbital changes were part o1 thltvariables

OFfensive military system

Developrnctlt (lf I fractional orbi lbon1bal1lment system (FOBS) conshytitluedmiddotln 1967 Actual fligln tesnng ofwhat was believed to be hardware fora FdBS lxgan in ~mbe1middot 1965Ten test flights were attempted during1967 eight were soccessful TheJOHS oper-ational and conumiddotol reshyquirementS wobull)ld b~ $inbullilar to thoseof an IGBM ill many res-pectgt Shch avehicle probably wm1ld lx~ targcteato at1ack (impact) on the iirst orbbut it Could be allowed 10 travel

Defense Intelligence Digest

1drcring the

oted miu io ns

Manned space flight acdvity during I 967 was hi~hliglncd on 23-24 tpril by the flight of Colonel Vladimir Komarov abwrd Soyuz- a new 14000- to 15000-pound space ship with maneuvering capabilities and tq

bull w fli

Ribull n

or

uipped witJ t a docking collar It as the first Soviet manned 5pacc ght in more than two years Thl~ shr ended with the denth of Cosmiddot onaut Komarov after one day in bit After Soyuzmiddot l rt-Cntcrcd Lllc

earths atmosphere it became enshytangled in its own parachute lt~nd crashed i11to middot the earth from an a ltitude of seven kilometers about 23000 feet) according to TASS announcements

Man-rating of the Soyuz- typltshyspaceCImiddotaft occurred during the Cosmos 133 and Cosmos 140 flights which were launched on 28 November 1966 and 7 Febtmiddotuttmiddoty 1967 respectively Two other possibl) man-related misshysions were the flighcs of Cosmos 146 launched on 10 larch and Cosmos I

sye~pl

on 8 April 1967 Both were into low earth orbitS with

of approximately 52 de by the SL-12 space launch

stem The SL- 12 laund1 system is limatcd to have a cnpability of acing more than 50000 pound~ into

low ca1middottb orbit The SL- 12 is asSt-ssed also as having the capability of Sltnding a spacccraf such Js Soyuz- I ~round he moon and uack to cJrth

On 30 October 1967 tmiddoto untuanncd possiblr Soyuz-type 5pace vehicles aUtomaficallv tmiddotcndczvouscd and docked in otmiddoth ii TASS seated Lllat Cosmos l H8- middotthc passive target vehicle-w~~ injctecl into mmiddotbit rotnc 15 miles fro111 Cosmos 186-- thc comshymand module--which WiIS launched three days earlier and thlt chc middoteJoci ty difference bctwc~n the two craft was about 82 feet per second (abom 56 miles per hour) Sensors 01)

Cosmos lll6 picked up CltJsmos 188 (rhc target vehicle) almost immediately titer the Iauer achieved orbit and

Cosmos 186 approached to within 1000 feet of the target vchick before it had cobullnplctcd half a imiddotevolution I locking wa completed befcnmiddotc Cosmos

bull 188 made OUe te middotolution arottnd ihc lt1rth The svstcm usee to determine rela tive posi(ion of the ta~et vehicle

middot Ad ro apply thrust for closure was a nificant ltkvclopmcnt

shy

March 1968

bull

Interplanetary exploration nother spectacular space achieveshy

n

d

ne r

i

nuthu

ment was the la1ancb of Vcnus-4 o12 June J967 This vehicle was jected ioro a trajectory towards Vcand t11adc middota soft lauding on planet on II October after a ronlontn flight Soviet p ress radio a nTV gamiddotc it cxccnsivc coverage The

shy

shy

~oviet public annolnccmcm on 16 October that the United Killgdom Jodrcll Bank dcepmiddotpacc tracking faciity hld been requested to help track Venus-~ was a good indication that the mission was important to the Sovie8 and that thev desired ruJJ worldwide appreciatioi) of that filet or possibly were worried abom thehmiddot own tracking capabilities It was the II th known Soviet Venus probe attempt 1one of dH previltlus ltJLmiddot tcrnp ts had been comple tely successful although 5omc ofmiddot the ptmiddotobes tntnsshymillcd data from interplanetary space Vcnus-4 was a significant technological first and probably provided the ftrt a ctual knowledge of th entry d ensity of Venus

Prospects for 1968 Progrcs~h--c dcmiddotcloplllcnt of current

Soviet space programs arc expcctcd to continue throush 1968 unlcs~ COil middot strained by ccollom ic consicleratiolls or tcchtlological problerns The unshysuccccsful attempt to achieve what h as bcc11 ltlsltcsscd to be an unmanned mission on 22 rovcmbct 1967 nnd which vas suspccrecl of bcing a cir shycutnlunar mission may be a signpost of Soviet direction The lunar pro-

gram portends more manned and urunanned mi~ions wirl1 the Soyuzshytype spacecraft and greater usc of the SL- 12 launch systern The $Qvicts probably will launch several navigashytion sateiUtcs sin1ilar to Cosmos 192 v~fY likclr the SobullietS rna~middot attempt a manned circumlunar fli~b t before the end of I9GB Support rniSIions

for this flight could incllldc rendezshyvous and docking Qtbit maneuverin~ and unmanned circumlunar probes

The Soviets orr expected tn mainshytaina wmiddoton~ interest in imcrplanetary space ptmiddotoblt~ IVhilc the cxtet nature of this interest is not clear the number of scientific satellites in support of research for the imcrplatlCtary proshy~nun prqbably will include a middotaricty of scientific assignments Moreover manr of the c~pcrirncntations in ncar-earth space during 1968 arc expected tv lcJCIIS llHCnrion on the Soviet lon~middot l~rm conccpt of intcrshyplanctar) ttmiddotavel 1ni1ial ucmpL~ at consrntctiou of space platforms an strong possibilities lmprmmiddotcd comshymunications navigation and othetmiddot ncar-earth space operations may develop TC$ting- of rh~ FOBS probably will continue dmmiddoting 1968 The mili tan reconnaissance satellites algttgt arc ~middotxpeacd to be launched at the cnrrcn t ra te of about twltgt per Htonth l n vic of the expected number of lannchings the ytar IY6l should be tht mos t acti( in th( histor of the Soviet space program and with the rcilCtilmiddotttiou of tho miln-in-spacc pro~ra u t it should be far m or spcctac11lar th1n rhc year 1967 fF~Dj

shy

Seuel 43

l shy

Page 5: S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE ... of u!Ung Transit, ... Cosmos 140 . flights, which

ELECTRON h onltt of Slttvaral wtrllltlttj tbltgtt Monif~ tbe eorths roJiofion hits

~~----------~------------------------------

TWOsto~ 5S-6 is thr ootic propulsion system for thltgt SL-3 which vS~t$ tit lu~tllc tlirJ sta~ onJ tlr SL-4 wMclgt ur tlr Vt~tiflt

42 Stcrtt

eratc increased X-ray radiation Sin((gt tbe X-rays travel at the speed of light

ac

~ t shy r ~

i

c~ l~

shy

(186000 mites per second) they Xthe earth before the energetic partiand thus can be used as a warningsignal The sun hovever sometitYtCgemrates blrsts ofX-rays that an~ uofoUowed by dangtrouc lecls of cnclmiddotgctic particle radiation Data fromsatellites similar to Cosmos I 66 shouldprovide the So~middotiets with a basis fojudging the feasibili~ of U$intt 1gt11ch ltwarning system middot

Cosmos 165 wa~ lanncbed flornPlesct~ on 12 jtnc and its orbitalelements sugge~tcd a sdcntiiic ncurshyearth nwastrcmlt(H progTam in whichorbital changes were part o1 thltvariables

OFfensive military system

Developrnctlt (lf I fractional orbi lbon1bal1lment system (FOBS) conshytitluedmiddotln 1967 Actual fligln tesnng ofwhat was believed to be hardware fora FdBS lxgan in ~mbe1middot 1965Ten test flights were attempted during1967 eight were soccessful TheJOHS oper-ational and conumiddotol reshyquirementS wobull)ld b~ $inbullilar to thoseof an IGBM ill many res-pectgt Shch avehicle probably wm1ld lx~ targcteato at1ack (impact) on the iirst orbbut it Could be allowed 10 travel

Defense Intelligence Digest

1drcring the

oted miu io ns

Manned space flight acdvity during I 967 was hi~hliglncd on 23-24 tpril by the flight of Colonel Vladimir Komarov abwrd Soyuz- a new 14000- to 15000-pound space ship with maneuvering capabilities and tq

bull w fli

Ribull n

or

uipped witJ t a docking collar It as the first Soviet manned 5pacc ght in more than two years Thl~ shr ended with the denth of Cosmiddot onaut Komarov after one day in bit After Soyuzmiddot l rt-Cntcrcd Lllc

earths atmosphere it became enshytangled in its own parachute lt~nd crashed i11to middot the earth from an a ltitude of seven kilometers about 23000 feet) according to TASS announcements

Man-rating of the Soyuz- typltshyspaceCImiddotaft occurred during the Cosmos 133 and Cosmos 140 flights which were launched on 28 November 1966 and 7 Febtmiddotuttmiddoty 1967 respectively Two other possibl) man-related misshysions were the flighcs of Cosmos 146 launched on 10 larch and Cosmos I

sye~pl

on 8 April 1967 Both were into low earth orbitS with

of approximately 52 de by the SL-12 space launch

stem The SL- 12 laund1 system is limatcd to have a cnpability of acing more than 50000 pound~ into

low ca1middottb orbit The SL- 12 is asSt-ssed also as having the capability of Sltnding a spacccraf such Js Soyuz- I ~round he moon and uack to cJrth

On 30 October 1967 tmiddoto untuanncd possiblr Soyuz-type 5pace vehicles aUtomaficallv tmiddotcndczvouscd and docked in otmiddoth ii TASS seated Lllat Cosmos l H8- middotthc passive target vehicle-w~~ injctecl into mmiddotbit rotnc 15 miles fro111 Cosmos 186-- thc comshymand module--which WiIS launched three days earlier and thlt chc middoteJoci ty difference bctwc~n the two craft was about 82 feet per second (abom 56 miles per hour) Sensors 01)

Cosmos lll6 picked up CltJsmos 188 (rhc target vehicle) almost immediately titer the Iauer achieved orbit and

Cosmos 186 approached to within 1000 feet of the target vchick before it had cobullnplctcd half a imiddotevolution I locking wa completed befcnmiddotc Cosmos

bull 188 made OUe te middotolution arottnd ihc lt1rth The svstcm usee to determine rela tive posi(ion of the ta~et vehicle

middot Ad ro apply thrust for closure was a nificant ltkvclopmcnt

shy

March 1968

bull

Interplanetary exploration nother spectacular space achieveshy

n

d

ne r

i

nuthu

ment was the la1ancb of Vcnus-4 o12 June J967 This vehicle was jected ioro a trajectory towards Vcand t11adc middota soft lauding on planet on II October after a ronlontn flight Soviet p ress radio a nTV gamiddotc it cxccnsivc coverage The

shy

shy

~oviet public annolnccmcm on 16 October that the United Killgdom Jodrcll Bank dcepmiddotpacc tracking faciity hld been requested to help track Venus-~ was a good indication that the mission was important to the Sovie8 and that thev desired ruJJ worldwide appreciatioi) of that filet or possibly were worried abom thehmiddot own tracking capabilities It was the II th known Soviet Venus probe attempt 1one of dH previltlus ltJLmiddot tcrnp ts had been comple tely successful although 5omc ofmiddot the ptmiddotobes tntnsshymillcd data from interplanetary space Vcnus-4 was a significant technological first and probably provided the ftrt a ctual knowledge of th entry d ensity of Venus

Prospects for 1968 Progrcs~h--c dcmiddotcloplllcnt of current

Soviet space programs arc expcctcd to continue throush 1968 unlcs~ COil middot strained by ccollom ic consicleratiolls or tcchtlological problerns The unshysuccccsful attempt to achieve what h as bcc11 ltlsltcsscd to be an unmanned mission on 22 rovcmbct 1967 nnd which vas suspccrecl of bcing a cir shycutnlunar mission may be a signpost of Soviet direction The lunar pro-

gram portends more manned and urunanned mi~ions wirl1 the Soyuzshytype spacecraft and greater usc of the SL- 12 launch systern The $Qvicts probably will launch several navigashytion sateiUtcs sin1ilar to Cosmos 192 v~fY likclr the SobullietS rna~middot attempt a manned circumlunar fli~b t before the end of I9GB Support rniSIions

for this flight could incllldc rendezshyvous and docking Qtbit maneuverin~ and unmanned circumlunar probes

The Soviets orr expected tn mainshytaina wmiddoton~ interest in imcrplanetary space ptmiddotoblt~ IVhilc the cxtet nature of this interest is not clear the number of scientific satellites in support of research for the imcrplatlCtary proshy~nun prqbably will include a middotaricty of scientific assignments Moreover manr of the c~pcrirncntations in ncar-earth space during 1968 arc expected tv lcJCIIS llHCnrion on the Soviet lon~middot l~rm conccpt of intcrshyplanctar) ttmiddotavel 1ni1ial ucmpL~ at consrntctiou of space platforms an strong possibilities lmprmmiddotcd comshymunications navigation and othetmiddot ncar-earth space operations may develop TC$ting- of rh~ FOBS probably will continue dmmiddoting 1968 The mili tan reconnaissance satellites algttgt arc ~middotxpeacd to be launched at the cnrrcn t ra te of about twltgt per Htonth l n vic of the expected number of lannchings the ytar IY6l should be tht mos t acti( in th( histor of the Soviet space program and with the rcilCtilmiddotttiou of tho miln-in-spacc pro~ra u t it should be far m or spcctac11lar th1n rhc year 1967 fF~Dj

shy

Seuel 43

l shy

Page 6: S E7C R E 'F - National Archives · PDF fileS E7C R E '"F . DECLASSIFIED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE ... of u!Ung Transit, ... Cosmos 140 . flights, which

1drcring the

oted miu io ns

Manned space flight acdvity during I 967 was hi~hliglncd on 23-24 tpril by the flight of Colonel Vladimir Komarov abwrd Soyuz- a new 14000- to 15000-pound space ship with maneuvering capabilities and tq

bull w fli

Ribull n

or

uipped witJ t a docking collar It as the first Soviet manned 5pacc ght in more than two years Thl~ shr ended with the denth of Cosmiddot onaut Komarov after one day in bit After Soyuzmiddot l rt-Cntcrcd Lllc

earths atmosphere it became enshytangled in its own parachute lt~nd crashed i11to middot the earth from an a ltitude of seven kilometers about 23000 feet) according to TASS announcements

Man-rating of the Soyuz- typltshyspaceCImiddotaft occurred during the Cosmos 133 and Cosmos 140 flights which were launched on 28 November 1966 and 7 Febtmiddotuttmiddoty 1967 respectively Two other possibl) man-related misshysions were the flighcs of Cosmos 146 launched on 10 larch and Cosmos I

sye~pl

on 8 April 1967 Both were into low earth orbitS with

of approximately 52 de by the SL-12 space launch

stem The SL- 12 laund1 system is limatcd to have a cnpability of acing more than 50000 pound~ into

low ca1middottb orbit The SL- 12 is asSt-ssed also as having the capability of Sltnding a spacccraf such Js Soyuz- I ~round he moon and uack to cJrth

On 30 October 1967 tmiddoto untuanncd possiblr Soyuz-type 5pace vehicles aUtomaficallv tmiddotcndczvouscd and docked in otmiddoth ii TASS seated Lllat Cosmos l H8- middotthc passive target vehicle-w~~ injctecl into mmiddotbit rotnc 15 miles fro111 Cosmos 186-- thc comshymand module--which WiIS launched three days earlier and thlt chc middoteJoci ty difference bctwc~n the two craft was about 82 feet per second (abom 56 miles per hour) Sensors 01)

Cosmos lll6 picked up CltJsmos 188 (rhc target vehicle) almost immediately titer the Iauer achieved orbit and

Cosmos 186 approached to within 1000 feet of the target vchick before it had cobullnplctcd half a imiddotevolution I locking wa completed befcnmiddotc Cosmos

bull 188 made OUe te middotolution arottnd ihc lt1rth The svstcm usee to determine rela tive posi(ion of the ta~et vehicle

middot Ad ro apply thrust for closure was a nificant ltkvclopmcnt

shy

March 1968

bull

Interplanetary exploration nother spectacular space achieveshy

n

d

ne r

i

nuthu

ment was the la1ancb of Vcnus-4 o12 June J967 This vehicle was jected ioro a trajectory towards Vcand t11adc middota soft lauding on planet on II October after a ronlontn flight Soviet p ress radio a nTV gamiddotc it cxccnsivc coverage The

shy

shy

~oviet public annolnccmcm on 16 October that the United Killgdom Jodrcll Bank dcepmiddotpacc tracking faciity hld been requested to help track Venus-~ was a good indication that the mission was important to the Sovie8 and that thev desired ruJJ worldwide appreciatioi) of that filet or possibly were worried abom thehmiddot own tracking capabilities It was the II th known Soviet Venus probe attempt 1one of dH previltlus ltJLmiddot tcrnp ts had been comple tely successful although 5omc ofmiddot the ptmiddotobes tntnsshymillcd data from interplanetary space Vcnus-4 was a significant technological first and probably provided the ftrt a ctual knowledge of th entry d ensity of Venus

Prospects for 1968 Progrcs~h--c dcmiddotcloplllcnt of current

Soviet space programs arc expcctcd to continue throush 1968 unlcs~ COil middot strained by ccollom ic consicleratiolls or tcchtlological problerns The unshysuccccsful attempt to achieve what h as bcc11 ltlsltcsscd to be an unmanned mission on 22 rovcmbct 1967 nnd which vas suspccrecl of bcing a cir shycutnlunar mission may be a signpost of Soviet direction The lunar pro-

gram portends more manned and urunanned mi~ions wirl1 the Soyuzshytype spacecraft and greater usc of the SL- 12 launch systern The $Qvicts probably will launch several navigashytion sateiUtcs sin1ilar to Cosmos 192 v~fY likclr the SobullietS rna~middot attempt a manned circumlunar fli~b t before the end of I9GB Support rniSIions

for this flight could incllldc rendezshyvous and docking Qtbit maneuverin~ and unmanned circumlunar probes

The Soviets orr expected tn mainshytaina wmiddoton~ interest in imcrplanetary space ptmiddotoblt~ IVhilc the cxtet nature of this interest is not clear the number of scientific satellites in support of research for the imcrplatlCtary proshy~nun prqbably will include a middotaricty of scientific assignments Moreover manr of the c~pcrirncntations in ncar-earth space during 1968 arc expected tv lcJCIIS llHCnrion on the Soviet lon~middot l~rm conccpt of intcrshyplanctar) ttmiddotavel 1ni1ial ucmpL~ at consrntctiou of space platforms an strong possibilities lmprmmiddotcd comshymunications navigation and othetmiddot ncar-earth space operations may develop TC$ting- of rh~ FOBS probably will continue dmmiddoting 1968 The mili tan reconnaissance satellites algttgt arc ~middotxpeacd to be launched at the cnrrcn t ra te of about twltgt per Htonth l n vic of the expected number of lannchings the ytar IY6l should be tht mos t acti( in th( histor of the Soviet space program and with the rcilCtilmiddotttiou of tho miln-in-spacc pro~ra u t it should be far m or spcctac11lar th1n rhc year 1967 fF~Dj

shy

Seuel 43

l shy