Okno-S ( rus, Окно-С) is a reported

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n military

space surveillance Space domain awareness is the study and monitoring of satellites orbiting the earth. It involves the detection, tracking, cataloging and identification of artificial objects, i.e. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentatio ...

facility used to identify and analyse the orbits of

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

s and other space objects. If it is operational, it would be run by the

Russian Space Forces The Russian Space Forces ( rus, Космические войска России, Kosmicheskie voyska Rossii, KV) are a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, that provides aerospace warning, air and space sovereignty, and other related protect ...

and complement the

Okno Okno ( rus, Окно meaning window) is a Russian space surveillance station located in Nurak in Tajikistan. It is run by the Russian Space Forces and is part of the Centre for Outer Space Monitoring. It is located above sea level in the Sanglok ...

station in

Nurak tg, Норак , image_skyline = Norak,Lenina.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Tajikistan , pushpin_label_position =bottom , pushpin_mapsize ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. Very little is known about the facility, including its precise location. There has been speculation on the differences between Okno and Okno-S but there has been no confirmation from official sources.

Okno

Okno is described as an optical-electronic facility which uses

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

s to track satellites and spacecraft between and above the Earth. It is located at high altitude, above sea-level near the civilian Sanglok astronomical

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

Plans

Little is known about Okno-S. The project started at Krasnogorsk mechanical plant in 1980, under the direction of V S Chernova, and the initial design was completed in 1985. In 1989 Russian military contractor

Vympel Directorate "V" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, often referred to as Spetsgruppa "V" Vympel ( pennant in Russian, originated from German , and having the same meaning), but also known as KGB Directorate "V", Vega Group, is an elite Russian ...

released a draft design of a number of space surveillance complexes including Okno-S. One analyst, Sean O'Connor, says that the original plan was for four Okno installations and four Okno-S installations. This was later reduced to one in Ukraine and one in Eastern Russia. A report by

Lenta.ru ''Lenta.ru'' (russian: Лента.Ру; stylised as LƐNTA.RU) is a Russian-language online newspaper. Based in Moscow, it is owned by Rambler Media Group. In 2013, the Alexander Mamut-owned companies "SUP Media" and "Rambler-Afisha" merged to ...

in 2004 said that one Okno-S was under construction.

Location

Sources agree on the rough location of the site in

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...

in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. It is described as being on Gora Lysaya ( rus, гора Лысая) 'Bald Mountain' near

Spassk-Dalny Spassk-Dalny (russian: Спасск-Да́льний), sometimes called simply Spassk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated on the Prikhankayskaya Flatland on the coast of Khanka Lake. Geography T ...

, north of

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

.. A location estimated by Allen Thomson is but there are also two other mountains called Gora Lysaya closer to Vladivostok at and .. Panoramio photos in Google Earth show a Lysaya Gora at 44.380 N, 132.946 E, quite close to Spassk Dalny. Sean O'Connor states that the lack of good satellite photography is stopping

open source intelligence Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from open sources (covert and publicly available sources) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforcement, and busi ...

researchers identifying the precise location.

Facility

There is speculation on the differences between Okno and Okno-S and what the facility actually consists of. Sean O'Connor says that it only covers the region between and above the Earth, providing information on satellites in

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

. Something in the FAS sourcebook says that the site has two components. This says that equipment with the

GRAU index The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...

60Zh6 covers craft in higher orbits and 59Zh6 and 57Zh6 covers craft in lower orbit.. The whole facility is given the name Object 2327S.

Other facilities

Primorsky Krai is mountainous and has other space and astronomical facilities.

Krona-N Krona-N ( rus, Радиолокационный комплекс "Крона-Н", Radiolokatsionny kompleks Krona-N) is a Russian military complex which uses radar to analyse satellites and other spacecraft. It is located in Nakhodka in the Russia ...

, another military space surveillance facility is near

Nakhodka Nakhodka ( rus, Нахо́дка, p=nɐˈxotkə) is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai. Po ...

at . Military unit 20096 obtains coordinates and reflecting features of space objects, and transmits this information to a unified system. A civilian solar observatory, Ussuriysk Astrophysical Observatory, is in

Ussuriysk Ussuriysk (russian: Уссури́йск) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about ...

References

{{Soviet Radar Russian Space Forces Military installations of Russia