From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sputnik 1
“Спутник-1″

Organization	Council of Ministers of the USSR
Major contractors	OKB-1, Soviet Ministry of Radiotechnical Industry
Mission type	Atmospheric studies
Satellite of	Earth
Orbits	1,440
Launch date	19:28:34, October 4, 1957 (UTC) (22:28:34 MSK)
Launch vehicle	Sputnik Rocket
Mission duration	3 months
Decay	4 January 1958
NSSDC ID	1957-001B
Home page	NASA NSSDC Master Catalog
Mass	83.6 kg (184.3 lb)
Orbital elements
Semimajor axis	6,955.2 km (4,321.8 mi)
Eccentricity	0.05201
Inclination	65.1°
Orbital period	96.2 minutes
Apoapsis	7,310 km (4,540 mi) from centre, 939 km (583 mi) from surface
Periapsis	6,586 km (4,092 mi) from centre, 215 km (134 mi) from surface

 

This metal arming key is the last remaining piece of the first Sputnik satellite. It prevented contact between the batteries and the transmitter prior to launch. Currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

Sputnik 1 (Russian: “Спутник-1″ Russian pronunciation: [ˈsputnʲɪk], “Satellite-1″, ПС-1 (PS-1, i.e. “Простейший Спутник-1″, or Elementary Satellite-1)) was the world’s first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into a low altitude elliptical orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program. The unanticipated announcement ofSputnik 1′s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space Race within the Cold War.

Apart from its value as a technological first, Sputnik also helped to identify the upper atmospheric layer’s density, through measuring the satellite’s orbital changes. It also provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere. Pressurized nitrogen, in the satellite’s body, provided the first opportunity for meteoroid detection. If a meteoroid penetrated the satellite’s outer hull, it would be detected by the temperature data sent back to Earth.

Sputnik-1 was launched during the International Geophysical Year from Site No.1, at the 5th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR (now at theBaikonur Cosmodrome). The satellite traveled at 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi) per hour, taking 96.2 minutes to complete an orbit, and emitted radio signals at 20.005 and 40.002 MHz^[1] which were monitored by amateur radio operators throughout the world.^[2] The signals continued for 22 days until the transmitter batteries ran out on 26 October 1957.^[3] Sputnik 1 burned up on 4 January 1958 as it fell from orbit upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere, after traveling about 60 million km (37 million miles) and spending 3 months in orbit.^[4]

Before the launch

Satellite construction project

The history of the Sputnik 1 project dates back to 27 May 1954, when Sergei Korolev addressed Dmitry Ustinov, then Minister of Defense Industries, proposing the development of an Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. Korolev also forwarded Ustinov a report by Mikhail Tikhonravovwith an overview of similar projects abroad.^[5] Tikhonravov emphasized that an artificial satellite is an inevitable stage in the development of rocket equipment, after which interplanetary communication would become possible.^[6] On 29 July 1955 the U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower announced, through his press secretary, that the United States would launch an artificial satellite during the International Geophysical Year (IGY).^[7] A week later, on 8 August the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU approved the idea of creating an artificial satellite.^[8] On 30 August Vasily Ryabikov – the head of the State Commission on R-7 rocket test launches – held a meeting where Korolev presented calculation data for a spaceflight trajectory to the Moon. They decided to develop a three-stage version of the R-7 rocket for satellite launches.^[9]

On 30 January 1956 the Council of Ministers of the USSR approved practical work on an artificial Earth-orbiting satellite. This satellite, named “Object D”, was planned to be completed in 1957-58; it would have a mass of 1,000 to 1,400 kg (2,200 to 3,090 lb) and would carry 200 to 300 kg (440 to 660 lb) of scientific instruments.^[10] The first test launch of “Object D” was scheduled for 1957.^[6] According to that decision, work on the satellite was to be divided between institutions as follows:^[11]

• USSR Academy of Sciences was responsible for the general scientific leadership and research instruments supply
• Ministry of Defense Industry and its main executor OKB-1 were assigned the task of creating the satellite as a special carrier for scientific research instruments
• Ministry of Radiotechnical Industry would develop the control system, radio/technical instruments and the telemetry system
• Ministry of Ship Building Industry would develop gyroscope devices
• Ministry of Machine Building would develop ground launching, refueling and transportation means
• Ministry of Defense was responsible for conducting launches

By July 1956 the draft was completed and the scientific tasks to be carried out by a satellite were defined. It included measuring the density of the atmosphere, its ion composition, corpuscular solar radiation, magnetic fields, cosmic rays, etc. Data, valuable in creating future satellites, were also to be collected. A ground observational complex was to be developed, that would collect information transmitted by the satellite, observe the satellite’s orbit, and transmit commands to the satellite. Such a complex should include up to 15 measurement stations. Due to the limited time frame, they should have means designed for rocket R-7 observations. Observations were planned for only 7 to 10 days and orbit calculations were expected to be not quite accurate.^[12]

Unfortunately, the complexity of the ambitious design and problems in following exact specifications meant that some parts of ‘Object D’, when delivered for assembly, simply did not fit with the others, causing costly delays. By the end of 1956 it became clear, that plans for ‘Object D’ were not to be fulfilled in time due to difficulties creating scientific instruments and the low specific impulse produced by the completed R-7 engines (304 sec instead of the planned 309 to 310 sec). Consequently the government re-scheduled the launch for April 1958.^[6] Object D would later fly as Sputnik 3.

Fearing the U.S. would launch a satellite before the USSR, OKB-1 suggested the creation and launch of a satellite in April-May 1957, before the IGY began in July 1957. The new satellite would be simple, light (100 kg or 220 lb), and easy to construct, forgoing the complex, heavy scientific equipment in favour of a simple radio transmitter. On 15 February 1957 the Council of Ministers of the USSR approved this, providing for launching the simplest version satellite, designated ‘Object PS’.^[13] This version also facilitated the satellite to be visually tracked by Earth-based observers while in orbit, and transmit tracking signals to ground-based receiving stations.^[13] Launch of two satellites PS-1 and PS-2 with two R-7 rockets (8K71) was allowed, but only after one or two successful R-7 test launches.^[13]

Launch vehicle preparation and launch site selection

The two-stage R-7 rocket was initially designed as an ICBM by OKB-1. The decision to build it was made by the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR on 20 May 1954.^[14] A special reconnaissance commission selected Tyuratam as a place for the construction of a rocket proving ground (the 5th Tyuratam range, usually referred to as “NIIP-5″, or “GIK-5″ in the post-Soviet time). The selection was approved on 12 February 1955 by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, but the site would not be completed until 1958.^[15] Actual work on the construction of the site began on 20 July by military building units. On 14 June 1956 Sergei Korolev decided to adapt the R-7 rocket to the ‘Object D’,^[16]that would later be replaced by the much lighter ‘Object PS’.

The first launch of an R-7 rocket (8K71 No.5L) occurred on 15 May 1957. The flight was controlled until the 98th second, but a fire in a strap-on rocket led to an unintended crash 400 km from the site.^[17] Three attempts to launch the second rocket (8K71 No.6) were made on 10-11 June, which failed due to a mistake made during the rocket’s assembly.^[18] The unsuccessful launch of the third R-7 rocket (8K71 No.7) took place on 12 July.^[17] During the flight the rocket began to rotate about its longitudinal axis and its engines were automatically turned off. The packet of stages was destroyed 32.9 seconds into the flight. The stages fell 7 km (4.3 mi) from the site and exploded.^[19]

The launch of the fourth rocket (8K71 No.8), on 21 August at 15:25 Moscow Time,^[17] was successful. Its head part separated, reached the defined region, entered the atmosphere, and was destroyed at a height of 10 km (6.2 mi) due to thermodynamic overload after traveling 6,000 km. On 27 August TASS the USSR issued a statement on the launch of a long-distance multistage ICBM. The launch of the fifth R-7 rocket (8K71 No.9), on 7 September^[17] was also successful, but the head part was also destroyed in the atmosphere,^[19] and hence needed a long redesign to completely fit its military purpose. The rocket, however, was already suitable for scientific satellite launches and this “time-out” of the rocket’s military exploitation was used to launch the PS-1 and PS-2 satellites.^[20]

On 22 September a modified R-7 rocket, named Sputnik Rocket (Russian: ракета-носитель Спутник) and indexed as 8K71PS, with the satellite PS-1, arrived at the proving ground and preparations for the launch began.^[21] As the R-7 was designed to carry the much heavier Object D, its adaptation to PS-1 reduced its initial mass from 280 to 272.83 short tons(250 to 250 metric tons) and its mass at launch was 267 short tons (242 metric tons); its length with PS-1 was 29.167 metres (95 ft 8.3 in) and the thrust was 3.90 MN (880,000 lb_f).^[22]

Observational complex

The measurement complex at the proving ground for monitoring launch vehicle parameters from its start onward was completed prior to the first R-7 rocket test launches in December 1956. It consisted of six static stations: IP-1 through IP-6, with IP-1 situated at a distance of 1 km (0.62 mi) from the launch pad.^[20] The main monitoring devices of these stations were telemetry and trajectory measurement stations, “Tral,” developed by OKB MEI. They received and monitored data from the “Tral” system transponders mounted on the R-7 rocket;^[23]an on-board system that provided precise telemetric data about Sputnik’s launch vehicle. The data was useful even after the satellite’s separation from the second stage of the rocket; Sputnik’s location was calculated from the data on the second stage’s location (which followed Sputnik at a known distance) using nomograms developed by P.E. Elyasberg.^[24]

An additional observational complex, established to track the satellite after its separation from the rocket, was completed by a group led by Colonel Yu.A.Mozzhorin in accordance with the General Staff directive of 8 May 1957. It was called the Command-Measurement Complex and consisted of the coordination center in NII-4 by the Ministry of Defence of the USSR (at Bolshevo) and seven ground tracking stations, situated along the line of the satellite’s ground track. They were: NIP-1 (at Tyuratam station, Kazakh SSR, situated not far from IP-1), NIP-2 (at Makat station, Guryev Oblast), NIP-3 (at Sary-Shagan station, Dzhezkazgan Oblast), NIP-4 (at Yeniseysk), NIP-5 (at village Iskup, Krasnoyarsk Krai), NIP-6 (at Yelizovo) and NIP-7 (at Klyuchi).^[20][25] The complex had a communication channel with the launch pad. Stations were equipped with radar, optical instruments, and communication means. PS-1 was not designed to be controlled, it could only be observed. Data from stations were transmitted by telegraphs into NII-4 where ballistics specialists calculated orbital parameters. The complex became an early prototype of the Soviet Mission Control Center^[26]

Design

The chief constructor of Sputnik 1 at OKB-1 was M.S.Khomyakov.^[27] The satellite was a 585 mm (23 in) diameter sphere, assembled from two hemispheres which were hermetically sealed using o-rings and connected using 36 bolts.^[28] The hemispheres, covered with a highly polished 1 mm-thick heat shield^[29] made of aluminium-magnesium-titanium AMG6T(”AMG” is an abbreviation for “aluminium-magnesium” and “T” stands for “titanium”, the alloy contains 6% of magnesium and 0.2% of titanium^[30]) alloy, were 2 mm-thick.^[31] The satellite carried two antennas designed by the Antenna Laboratory of OKB-1 led by M.V.Krayushkin.^[11] Each antenna was made up of two whip-like parts: 2.4 and 2.9 metres (7.9 and 9.5 ft) in length,^[32] and had an almost spherical radiation pattern,^[33] so that the satellite beeps were transmitted with equal power in all directions; making reception of the transmitted signal independent of the satellite’s rotation. The whip-like pairs of antennas resembled four long “whiskers” pointing to one side, at equal 35 degrees angles with the longitudinal axis of the satellite.^[34]

The power supply, with a mass of 51 kg (110 lb),^[35] was in the shape of an octahedral nut with the radio transmitter in its hole.^[36] It consisted of three silver-zinc batteries, developed at the All-Union Research Institute of Current Sources (VNIIT) under the leadership of N. S. Lidorenko. Two of them powered the radio transmitter and one powered the temperature regulation system.^[35] They were expected to fade out in two weeks, but ended up working for 22 days. The power supply was turned on automatically at the moment of the satellite’s separation from the second stage of the rocket.^[34]

The satellite had a one-watt, 3.5 kg (7.7 lb)^[20] radio transmitting unit inside, developed by V. I. Lappo from NII-885,^[34] that worked on two frequencies, 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. Signals on the first frequency were transmitted in 0.3 sec pulses (under normal temperature and pressure conditions on-board), with pauses of the same duration filled by pulses on the second frequency.^[37] Analysis of the radio signals was used to gather information about the electron density of the ionosphere. Temperature and pressure were encoded in the duration of radio beeps, which additionally indicated that the satellite had not been punctured by a meteorite. A temperature regulation system contained a fan, a dual thermal switch, and a control thermal switch.^[34] If the temperature inside the satellite exceeded 36 °C (97 °F) the fan was turned on and when it fell below 20 °C (68 °F) the fan was turned off by the dual thermal switch.^[33] If the temperature exceeded 50 °C (122 °F) or fell below 0 °C (32 °F), another control thermal switch was activated, changing the duration of the of radio signal pulses.^[34]Sputnik 1 was filled with dry nitrogen, pressurized to 1.3 atm.^[38] For the pressure control the satellite had a barometric switch, activated when the pressure inside the satellite fell below 0.35 kg/cm² (5.0 psi), changing the duration of radio signal impulse.^[38]

While attached to the rocket, Sputnik 1 was protected by a cone-shaped payload fairing, with a height of 80 cm (31.5 in) and an aperture of 48 degrees.^[20] The fairing separated from both Sputnik 1 and the rocket at the same time when the satellite was ejected.^[34] Tests of the satellite were conducted at OKB-1 under the leadership of O. G. Ivanovsky.^[27] Sputnik 1 was launched by an R-7 rocket on 4 October 1957. It burned up upon re-entry on 4 January 1958.

Launch and mission

 

Soviet 40 copecksstamp, showing satellite’s orbit.

The control system of the Sputnik Rocket was tuned to provide an orbit with the following parameters: perigee height - 223 km (139 mi), apogee height - 1,450 km (900 mi), orbital period - 101.5 min.^[39] A rocket trajectory with these parameters was calculated earlier by Georgi Grechko,^[40] after completing the calculations over several nights on the USSR Academy of Sciences’s mainframe computer.^[20]

The Sputnik Rocket was launched at 19:28:34 UTC, on 4 October 1957, from Site No.1 at NIIP-5.^[41] Processing of the information, obtained from the “Tral” system showed^[20] that the side boosters separated 116.38 seconds into the flight and the second stage engine was shut-down 294.6 seconds into the flight.^[39] At this moment the second stage with PS-1 attached had a height of 223 km (139 mi) above Earth’s surface, a velocity of 7,780 m/s (25,500 ft/s) and velocity vector inclination to the local horizon was 0 degrees 24 minutes. This motion resulted in an orbit with initial parameters: perigee height - 223 km, apogee height - 950 km (590 mi), initial orbital period - 96.2 minutes.^[39]

After 314.5 seconds PS-1 separated from the second stage^[39] and at the same moment at the small “Finnish house” of IP-1 station Junior Engineer-Lieutenant V.G.Borisov heard the “Beep-beep-beep” signals from the radio receiver R-250. Reception lasted for two minutes, while PS-1 was above the horizon. There were many people in the house, both military and civil, and they were probably the first to celebrate the event.^[20][42] After 325.44 seconds acorner reflector on the second stage was opened, that also allowed measurement of its orbit parameters - like the working “Tral” system did.^[29]

The designers, engineers and technicians who developed the rocket and satellite watched the launch from the range.^[43] After the launch they ran to the mobile radio station to listen to signals from the satellite.^[43] They waited about 90 minutes to ensure that the satellite had made one orbit and was transmitting, before Korolyov calledKhrushchev.^[44] The downlink telemetry included data on temperatures inside and on the surface of the sphere.

On the first orbit the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) transmitted: “As result of great, intense work of scientific institutes and design bureaus the first artificial Earth satellite has been built”.^[45] The Sputnik 1 rocket booster (second stage of the rocket) also reached Earth orbit and was visible from the ground at night as a first magnitude object following the satellite. Korolyov had intentionally requested reflective panels placed on the booster in order to make it so visible.^[44] The satellite itself, a small but highly polished sphere, was barely visible at sixth magnitude, and thus more difficult to follow optically. Ahead of Sputnik 1 flew the third object - the payload fairing, 80 cm (31 in)-long cone, i.e. a little bit bigger than the satellite.

Feedback

Teams of visual observers at 150 stations in the United States and other countries were alerted during the night to watch for the Soviet sphere at dawn and during the evening twilight. They had been organized in Project Moonwatch to sight the satellite through binoculars or telescopes as it passed overhead.^[47] The USSR asked radio amateurs and commercial stations to record the sound of the satellite on magnetic tape.^[47]

News reports at the time pointed out that “anyone possessing a short wave receiver can hear the new Russian earth satellite as it hurtles over his area of the globe”. Directions, provided by the American Radio Relay League were to “Tune in 20 megacycles sharply, by the time signals, given on that frequency. Then tune to slightly higher frequencies. The ‘beep, beep’ sound of the satellite can be heard each time it rounds the globe,”^[48]

At first the Soviet Union agreed to use equipment “compatible” with that of the United States, but later announced the lower frequencies.^[47] The White House declined to comment on military aspects of the launch, but said it “did not come as a surprise.”^[49] On 5 October the Naval Research Laboratory announced it had recorded four crossings of Sputnik-1 over the United States.^[47] U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower obtained photographs of the Soviet facilities from Lockheed U-2 flights conducted since 1956.^[50]

Pop culture

• Sputnik 1 resulted in a fashion trend now called the “Sputnik Lamp”, which usually consists of a metallic sphere with bars jutting out in multiple directions holding light bulbs or lamp globes at the ends. Most have 8 to 15 bars, as opposed to the 4 antennas on Sputnik 1. As an example of such a lamp, see http://site.inmod.com/images/vignettes/sputnik.jpg.
• In a flashback section of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Carbon Creek“, a Vulcan starship is in orbit around Earth in early October 1957, and its crew closely observes theSputnik 1 satellite

Replicas

One Sputnik 1 replica, built by French and Russian teenagers and hand-launched from Mir on 3 November 1997, reentered Earth’s atmosphere after two months in orbit.^[50]

In 2003 a back-up unit of Sputnik 1 called “model PS-1″ failed to sell on eBay.^[51] It was offered while still on display in a science institute near Kyiv. It is estimated that between four and twenty models were made for testing and as replicas.

A Sputnik 1 model was given as a gift to the United Nations and now decorates the entry Hall of its New York City Headquarters.

What is thought to be a backup of Sputnik 1 now hangs at The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. The craft was manufactured by the Soviet Academy of Sciences and has battery acid remnants on the inside walls of the spherical shell, as well as fittings for the various components, suggesting that it was more than just a model.^[52]

Another replica is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

A Sputnik 1 backup unit is on display at the personal library of Jay Walker, an Internet entrepreneur.^[53]

A further replica is on display in the Space section of the Science Museum, London.

There is also a replica on display at the World Museum in Liverpool, UK.

Three accurate replicas of the Sputnik 1 titled “My Sputnik”, were created by the artist and inventor Michael Joaquin Grey in 1990 and exhibited in art galleries and museums internationally.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Minuteman III ICBM test launch from Vandenberg AFB, California, United States.

An intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is a long-range (greater than 5,500 km or 3,500 miles) ballistic missile typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery, that is, delivering one or more nuclear warheads. Due to their great range and firepower, in an all-out nuclear war, submarine and land-based ICBMs would carry most of the destructive force, with nuclear-armedbombers the remainder.

ICBMs are differentiated by having greater range and speed than other ballistic missiles: intermediate-range ballistic missiles(IRBMs), medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), and the newly-named theatre ballistic missiles. Categorizing missiles by range is necessarily subjective and the boundaries are chosen somewhat arbitrarily.

History

World War II

 

A-4 (V-2) in Peenemünde, Germany

The development of the world’s first practical design for a ICBM, A9/10, intended for use in bombing New York and other American cities, was undertaken in Nazi Germany by the team of Wernher von Braun under Projekt Amerika. The ICBM A9/A10 rocket initially was intended to be guided by radio, but was changed to be a piloted craft after the failure of Operation Elster. The second stage of the A9/A10 rocket was tested a few times in January and February 1945. The progenitor of the A9/A10 was the German V-2 rocket, also designed by von Braun and widely used at the end of World War II to bomb British and Belgian cities. All of these rockets used liquid propellants. Following the war, von Braun and other leading German scientists were secretly transferred to the United States to work directly for the U.S. Army through Operation Paperclip, developing the IRBMs, ICBMs, and launchers.

Cold War

In 1953, the USSR initiated, under the direction of the reactive propulsion engineer Sergey Korolyov, a program to develop an ICBM. Korolyov had constructed the R-1, a copy of the V-2 based on some captured materials, but later developed his own distinct design. This rocket, the R-7, was successfully tested in August 1957 becoming the world’s first ICBM and, on October 4, 1957, placed the first artificial satellite in space, Sputnik.

In the USA, competition between the U.S. armed services meant that each force developed its own ICBM program. The U.S. initiated ICBM research in 1946 with the MX-774. However, its funding was cancelled and only three partially successful launches in 1948, of an intermediate rocket, were ever conducted. In 1951, the U.S. began a new ICBM program called MX-774 and B-65 (later renamed Atlas). The U.S.’s first successful ICBM, the Atlas A, was launched on 17 December 1957, four months after the Soviet R-7 flight.

Military units with deployed ICBMs would first be fielded in 1959, in both the Soviet Union and the United States. The R7 and Atlas both required a large launch facility, making them vulnerable to attack, and could not be kept in a ready state.

These early ICBMs also formed the basis of many space launch systems. Examples include Atlas, Redstone rocket, Titan, R-7, and Proton, which was derived from the earlier ICBMs but never deployed as an ICBM. The Eisenhower administration supported the development of solid-fueled missiles such as the LGM-30 Minuteman, Polaris and Skybolt. Modern ICBMs tend to be smaller than their ancestors, due to increased accuracy and smaller and lighter warheads, and use solid fuels, making them less useful as orbital launch vehicles.

Deployment of these systems was governed by the strategic theory of Mutually Assured Destruction. In the 1950s and 1960s, development began on Anti-Ballistic Missile systems by both the U.S. and USSR; these systems were restricted by the 1972 ABM treaty.

The 1972 SALT treaty froze the number of ICBM launchers of both the USA and the USSR at existing levels, and allowed new submarine-based SLBM launchers only if an equal number of land-based ICBM launchers were dismantled. Subsequent talks, called SALT II, were held from 1972 to 1979 and actually reduced the number of nuclear warheads held by the USA and USSR. SALT II was never ratified by the United States Senate, but its terms were nevertheless honored by both sides until 1986, when the Reagan administration “withdrew” after accusing the USSR of violating the pact.

In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan launched the Strategic Defense Initiative as well as the MX and Midgetman ICBM programmes.

Post-Cold War

In 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed in the START I treaty to reduce their deployed ICBMs and attributed warheads.

As of 2009, all five of the nations with permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council have operational ICBM systems: all have submarine-launched missiles, and Russia, theUnited States and China also have land-based missiles. In addition, Russia and China have mobile land-based missiles.

India is reported to be developing a new variant of the Agni missile, called the Agni V, which is reported to have a strike range of 6,000 km.^[1] There have also been reports that India is developing another class of ICBMs called the Surya.^{[citation needed]}

It is speculated by some intelligence agencies that North Korea is developing an ICBM;^[2] two tests of somewhat different developmental missiles in 1998 and 2006 were not fully successful.^[3]

Most countries in the early stages of developing ICBMs have used liquid propellants, with the known exceptions being the planned South African RSA-4 ICBM and the now in service Israeli Jericho 3.^[4]

Flight phases

The following flight phases can be distinguished:

• boost phase — 3 to 5 minutes (shorter for a solid rocket than for a liquid-propellant rocket); altitude at the end of this phase is typically 150 to 400 km depending on the trajectory chosen, typical burnout speed is 7 km/s.
• midcourse phase — approx. 25 minutes — sub-orbital spaceflight in an elliptic orbit; the orbit is part of an ellipse with a vertical major axis; the apogee (halfway the midcourse phase) is at an altitude of approximately 1,200 km; the semi-major axis is between 3,186 km and 6,372 km; the projection of the orbit on the Earth’s surface is close to a great circle, slightly displaced due to earth rotation during the time of flight; the missile may release several independent warheads, and penetration aids such as metallic-coated balloons, aluminumchaff, and full-scale warhead decoys.
• reentry phase (starting at an altitude of 100 km) — 2 minutes — impact is at a speed of up to 4 km/s (for early ICBMs less than 1 km/s); see also maneuverable reentry vehicle.

Modern ICBMs

 

External and cross sectional views of a Trident II D5 nuclear missile system. It is a submarine launched missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads up to 8,000 km. Trident missiles are carried by fourteen active US NavyOhio class submarines and four Royal Navy Vanguard classsubmarines.

Modern ICBMs typically carry multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a separatenuclear warhead, allowing a single missile to hit multiple targets. MIRV was an outgrowth of the rapidly shrinking size and weight of modern warheads and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties which imposed limitations on the number of launch vehicles (SALT I and SALT II). It has also proved to be an “easy answer” to proposed deployments of ABM systems – it is far less expensive to add more warheads to an existing missile system than to build an ABM system capable of shooting down the additional warheads; hence, most ABM system proposals have been judged to be impractical. The first operational ABM systems were deployed in the 1970s, the U.S. Safeguard ABM facility was located in North Dakota and was operational from 1975–1976. The USSR deployed its Galosh ABM system around Moscow in the 1970s, which remains in service. Israel deployed a national ABM system based on the Arrow missile in 1998,^[5] but it is mainly designed to intercept shorter-ranged theater ballistic missiles, not ICBMs. The U.S. Alaska-based National missile defense system attained initial operational capability in 2004.^[6]

ICBMs can be deployed from multiple platforms:

• in missile silos, which offer some protection from military attack (including, the designers hope, some protection from a nuclear first strike)
• on submarines: submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs); most or all SLBMs have the long range of ICBMs (as opposed to IRBMs)
• on heavy trucks; this applies to one version of the RT-2UTTH Topol M which may be deployed from a self-propelled mobile launcher, capable of moving through roadless terrain, and launching a missile from any point along its route
• mobile launchers on rails; this applies, for example, to РТ-23УТТХ “Молодец” (RT-23UTTH “Molodets”—SS-24 “Sсаlреl”)

The last three kinds are mobile and therefore hard to find.

During storage, one of the most important features of the missile is its serviceability. One of the key features of the firstcomputer-controlled ICBM, the Minuteman missile, was that it could quickly and easily use its computer to test itself.

In flight, a booster pushes the warhead and then falls away. Most modern boosters are solid-fueled rocket motors, which can be stored easily for long periods of time. Early missiles used liquid-fueled rocket motors. Many liquid-fueled ICBMs could not be kept fuelled all the time as the cryogenic liquid oxygen boiled off and caused ice formation, and therefore fueling the rocket was necessary before launch. This procedure was a source of significant operational delay, and might cause the rockets to be destroyed before they could be used. To resolve this problem the British invented the missile silo that protected the missile from a first strike and also hid fuelling operations underground.

Once the booster falls away, the warhead continues on an unpowered ballistic trajectory, much like an artillery shell or cannon ball. The warhead is encased in a cone-shaped reentry vehicle and is difficult to detect in this phase of flight as there is no rocket exhaust or other emissions to mark its position to defenders. The high speeds of the warheads make them difficult to intercept and allow for little warning striking targets anywhere in the world within minutes.

Many authorities say that missiles also release aluminized balloons, electronic noisemakers, and other items intended to confuse interception devices and radars (see penetration aid).

As the nuclear warhead reenters the earth’s atmosphere its high speed causes friction with the air, leading to a dramatic rise in temperature which would destroy it if it were not shielded in some way. As a result, warhead components are contained within an aluminium honeycomb substructure, sheathed in pyrolytic graphite-epoxy resin composite, with a heat-shield layer on top which comprises of 3-Dimensional Quartz Phenolic.

Accuracy is crucial, because doubling the accuracy decreases the needed warhead energy by a factor of four. Accuracy is limited by the accuracy of the navigation system and the available geophysical information.

Strategic missile systems are thought to use custom integrated circuits designed to calculate navigational differential equations thousands to millions of times per second in order to reduce navigational errors caused by calculation alone. These circuits are usually a network of binary addition circuits that continually recalculate the missile’s position. The inputs to the navigation circuit are set by a general purpose computer according to a navigational input schedule loaded into the missile before launch.

One particular weapon developed by the Soviet Union (FOBS) had a partial orbital trajectory, and unlike most ICBMs its target could not be deduced from its orbital flight path. It was decommissioned in compliance with arms control agreements, which address the maximum range of ICBMs and prohibit orbital or fractional-orbital weapons.

Low-flying guided cruise missiles are an alternative to ballistic missiles.

Specific missiles

Land-based ICBMs

 

Testing at the Kwajalein Atoll of the Peacekeeper re-entry vehicles, all eight fired from only one missile. Each line, were its warhead live, represents the potential explosive power of about 375 kilotons of TNT.

The U.S. Air Force currently operates 450 ICBMs around three air force bases located primarily in the northern Rocky Mountain states and North Dakota. These are of the LGM-30 Minuteman III ICBM variant only. Peacekeeper missiles were phased out in 2005.^[7]

All USAF Minuteman II missiles have been destroyed in accordance with START, and their launch silos have been sealed or sold to the public. To comply with the START II most U.S. multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, have been eliminated and replaced with single warhead missiles. However, since the abandonment of the START II treaty, the U.S. is said to be considering retaining 800 warheads on 450 missiles.^[8]

MIRVed land-based ICBMs are considered destabilizing because they tend to put a premium on striking first. If we assume that each side has 100 missiles, with 5 warheads each, and further that each side has a 95 percent chance of neutralizing the opponent’s missiles in their silos by firing 2 warheads at each silo, then the side that strikes first can reduce the enemy ICBM force from 100 missiles to about 5 by firing 40 missiles at the enemy silos and using the remaining 60 for other targets. This first-strike strategy increases the chance of a nuclear war, so the MIRV weapon system was banned under the START II agreement.

The United States Air Force awards two badges for performing duty in a nuclear missile silo or Launch Control Center (LCC). The Missile Badge is presented to enlisted and commissioned maintainers while the Space and Missile Pin is awarded to commissioned Officer operators after completed training and full certification.

Sea-based ICBMs

 

Trident missile launch at sea from a Royal Navy Vanguard- classballistic missile submarine.

• The U.S. Navy currently has 14 Ohio-class SSBNs deployed.^[9] Each submarine is equipped with a complement of 24 Trident II missiles, for a total of 288 missiles equipped with 1152 nuclear warheads.

• The Russian Navy currently has 12 SSBNs deployed, including 5 Delta III class submarines, 6 Delta IV class submarines and 1 Typhoon class submarine, for a total of 181 missiles equipped with 639 nuclear warheads. Missiles includes the R-29R, R-29RM/Sineva and Bulava SLBMs (deployed on the single Typhoon SSBN as a testbed for the next generation Borei class submarines being built).

• The French Navy constantly maintains at least four active units, relying on two classes of nuclear-powered ballistic submarines (SSBN): the olderRedoutable class, which are being progressively decommissioned, and the newer le Triomphant class. These carry 16 M45 missiles with TN75 warheads, and are scheduled to be upgraded to M51 nuclear missiles around 2010.

• The UK’s Royal Navy has four Vanguard class submarines, each armed with 16 Trident II SLBMs.

• China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has one Xia class submarine with 12 single-warhead JL-1 SLBMs. The PLAN has also launched at least two of the new Type 094 SSBN that will have 12 JL-2 SLBMs (possibly MIRV) which are in developmeny

• Atlas (SM-65, CGM-16) former ICBM launched from silo, the rocket is now used for other purposes
• Titan I (SM-68, HGM-25A) Based in underground launch complexes.
• Titan II (SM-68B, LGM-25C) — former ICBM launched from silo, the rocket is now used for other purposes
• Minuteman I (SM-80, LGM-30A/B, HSM-80)
• Minuteman II (LGM-30F)
• Minuteman III (LGM-30G) — launched from silo — as of November, 2006, there are 500 Minuteman III missiles in active inventory
• LGM-118A Peacekeeper / MX (LGM-118A) — silo-based; decommissioned in May 2006
• Midgetman — has never been operational — launched from mobile launcher
• Polaris A1, A2, A3 — (UGM-27/A/B/C) former SLBM
• Poseidon C3 — (UGM-73) former SLBM
• Trident — (UGM-93A/B) SLBM — Trident II (D5) was first deployed in 1990 and is planned to be deployed past 2020.

Soviet/Russian

Specific types of Soviet ICBMs include:

• MR-UR-100 Sotka / 15A15/ SS-17 Spanker
• R7 Semyorka / 8K71 / SS-6 Sapwood
• R-9 Desna / SS-8 Sasin
• R-16 SS-7 Saddler
• R-36 SS-9 Scarp
• R-36M2 Voevoda / SS-18 Satan
• RS-24 is MIRV-equipped and thermonuclear. It has two tests since 2005.
• RT-23 Molodets / SS-24 Scalpel
• RT-2PM Topol / 15Zh58 / SS-25 Sickle
• RT-2UTTKh Topol M / SS-27
• UR-100 8K84 / SS-11 Sego
• UR-100N 15A30 / SS-19 Stiletto

People’s Republic of China

Specific types of Chinese ICBMs called Dong Feng (”East Wind”).

• DF-3 — cancelled. Program name transferred to a MRBM.
• DF-5 CSS-4 — silo based, 15,000+ km range.
• DF-6 — cancelled
• DF-22 — cancelled by 1995.
• DF-31 CSS-9 — silo and road mobile, 7,200+ km range.
• DF-31A CSS-9 — silo and road mobile, 11,200+ km range.
• DF-41 CSS-X-10 — program is currently on halt due to introduction of DF-31A.

 France

France only deploys submarine launched ICBMs, with all land based ones decommissioned

• M4 — Decommissioned in 2003.
• M45 — In service.
• M51.1 — Expected to enter service in 2010.
• M51.2 — Expected to enter service in 2015.

 India

The Indian range of ICBMs currently in development include :

• Agni-V — 5000-6000 km range (Under Development: expected to enter service in 2012.)

 North Korea

North Korea currently does not deploy any ICBM, but is in the process of developing such a missile.

• Taepodong-2 — 4,000-9,000 km range (under development; failed test in 2006, possible successful test in 2009 ?)

Ballistic missile submarines

Specific types of ballistic missile submarines include:

• George Washington class - 
• Ethan Allen class - 
• Lafayette class - 
• Benjamin Franklin class - 
• Ohio class - 
• Resolution class - 
• Vanguard class - 
• Borei class - 
• Typhoon class -  
• Delta IV class - 
• Redoutable class - 
• Triomphant class - 
• Type 092 (Xia class) - 
• Type 094 (Jin class) - 
• Additional Soviet/Russian ballistic missile submarines
• Advanced Technology Vessel -  - in construction

See also

• India and weapons of mass destruction
• Israel and weapons of mass destruction
• People’s Republic of China and weapons of mass destruction
• France and weapons of mass destruction
• Russia and weapons of mass destruction
• United States and weapons of mass destruction
• United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction
• SLBM
• Anti-ballistic missile
• Heavy ICBM
• Throw-weight
• Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
• Atmospheric reentry
• nuclear disarmament
• nuclear navy
• nuclear warfare
• Force de frappe
• submarine
• Fractional Orbital Bombardment System
• Air Force Space Command
• Missile Defense Agency
• Countermeasure

References

1. ^ Times of India: India plans 6,000-km range Agni-IV missile
2. ^ Taep’o-dong 2 (TD-2) - North Korea
3. ^ [1][2]
4. ^ http://www.astronautix.com/lvfam/jericho.htm
5. ^ Israeli Arrow ABM System is Operational as War Clouds Darken
6. ^ MissileThreat ::
7. ^ Peacekeeper missile mission ends during ceremony
8. ^ http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/nukenotes/mj04nukenote.html
9. ^ There are a total of 18 Ohio-class submarines in the US Navy inventory; however four of these submarines have been retrofitted to carry and fire cruise missiles, and are no longer considered ballistic missile subs.

External links

• Ballistic missile characters
• Estimated Strategic Nuclear Weapons Inventories (September 2004)
• Intercontinental Ballistic and Cruise Missiles
• “A Tale of Two Airplanes” by Ltc. Kingdon R. Hawes