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Fire Damages
Russia Space Center
A fire at
Russia's military space headquarters resulted in the loss of
communication with four early warning “Oko” satellites. The
Russian Space Force Mission control restored contact with the
satellites, but had not yet regained full control by late May 11.
The satellites are Kosmos 2340, Kosmos 2341, Kosmos 2351 and
Kosmos 2368, flying in highly elliptical orbits. The satellites
are used to monitor U.S. territory for possible launches of
intercontinental ballistic missiles, but are not capable of
monitoring oceans to spot ballistic missiles launched from U.S.
submarines. The fire resulted in Russia losing the space-based
component of its early-warning network.
The
fire occurred at 2:20 a.m., Moscow time, May 10, destroying the
building and severing communications links with the satellites.
The 50 meter tall building was topped by a dome and flanked by
three auxiliary control facilities inside the fenced security
premises, according to television footage shown on Russia's
national channels on May 10. According to a May 11 news release
from the Space Forces, it took until 6:30 p.m. to extinguish the
fire. The space center where the fire broke out is the
Serpukhov-15 Military base, the armed forces space division
headquarters, located at Kurilovo, south-west of Moscow.
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