Kurs (docking navigation system)
Kurs (Ukrainian and Russian: Курс, Course) is a radio telemetry system used by the Soviet and later Russian space program.
Kurs was developed by the Research Institute of Precision Instruments (NII TP, Russian: НИИ Точных Приборов) before 1985[1][2] and manufactured by the Kiev Radio Factory (Ukrainian: Київський Радіозавод).[3]
History
Kurs was the successor to the Igla system and today provides navigation beaconing for Russian space vehicles including the Soyuz spacecraft and Progress spacecraft. Kurs provided the automated docking system for all Russian spacecraft that docked with the Mir space station. [4][5] When used for docking, the Soyuz or Progress vehicle broadcasts radar pulses from multiple antennas. The variation in strength between the antennas allows the system to compute relative position, attitude, and approach rate. The system is designed for automatic rendezvous and docking, but in an emergency cosmonauts may take command of the vehicle either locally, or from the International Space Station.[6]
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kurs system became the property of Ukraine; its manufacturer became a competitor in the space launch business with the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA). Due to hard-currency problems, Kiev also raised the price of the Kurs system. Consequently, RKA sought to phase out its use in its vehicles.[7]
Kurs-NA
The Kurs-NA docking system, requiring only one rendezvous antenna, is replacing Kurs-A, which required five, and will use less power.[8] It was tested by Progress M-15M in July 2012[8] and by Progress M-21M in November 2013.[9]
ISS
ATV
The now Russian-built antenna part of the Kurs system also served as an independent and redundant docking monitoring system for the European Automated Transfer Vehicle.[10] It served as an additional monitoring system and could not be used to control the approach or docking of ATV in any way.[11]
Failures
On 15 December 2015 during the docking of Soyuz TMA-19M with the International Space Station the Kurs system mis-aligned the spacecraft and failed to dock, requiring a manual docking approach piloted by Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko. This delayed the docking by 10 minutes.[12]
See also
- TriDAR, a relative navigation vision system used on three Space Shuttle flights to the ISS
References
- ↑ NII TP history (in Russian)
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- ↑ National Space Agency of Ukraine / Kurs Research and Production Complex, Public Company
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- ↑ Космический грузовик «Прогресс М-21М» испытал систему сближения с МКС
- ↑ Integrated cargo carrier Figure 2-3: External Equipment on the EPM Front Cone
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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