Russian, French Presidents Visit Space Troops Test Center
KRASNOZNAMENSK
(Moscow region) (RIA Novosti) – Russian and French Presidents
Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac are visiting the Gherman Titov
Main Center for Testing and Controlling Spacecraft, located 40
kilometers from Moscow in the town of Krasnoznamensk.
This center
is part of the Russian Defense Ministry Space Troops. The center
controls Russia’s both military and civil space orbital groups
and conducts work on the International Space Station.
Vladimir Putin
arrived at the center a few minutes earlier than Mr. Chirac. Russian
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, head of the Federal Space Agency
Anatoly Perminov and Space Troops Commander Vladimir Popovkin
met the Russian head of state.
Then the Russian
president went to meet his French counterpart. Cordially welcoming
each other, the presidents went to the main hall of the test center
to hear the report of the center’s head, Lt.-Gen. Nikolai Kolesnikov.
The French
president is the first foreign leader to visit the Center.
Before entering
the hall, the leaders of the two countries examined two models
of Earth artificial satellites. Mr. Putin told Mr. Chirac about
them in English.
The Russian
president drew his French counterpart’s attention to the fact
that both the big and the small satellites fulfill similar functions.
The creation
of the Gherman Titov Main Center for Testing and Controlling Spacecraft
is connected with the history of Russian rocket production, space
science and technology, whose rapid development started after
World War II. Now the Center is a unique complex of various multifunctional
radio technical means and radio electronic equipment with a high
degree of automation and exceptional accuracy of measurements,
with the distance of actions reaching from several thousand to
several hundred million kilometers.
The center
solves the task to ensure launches of spacecraft while reinforcing
orbital groups of space systems and complexes, launches of intercontinental
ballistic missiles, landings of descended apparatuses, reconnaissance
and topographic provision.
The center
also fulfills work on creating and using space reconnaissance
and missile attack warning means.
Besides, the
center’s tasks include the use of a system of universal time and
standard clock "Tsel" (Target), and time-and-frequency
provision of the Russian Defense Ministry. The center also participates
in holding flight tests and practicing the use of specimens of
promising military and dual-purpose space means, as well as those
launched in line with the Russian federal space program, international
cooperation and commercial programs.
The center
controls separate space apparatuses and the orbital group of social-economic
and scientific purpose and space apparatuses launched in line
with international cooperation and commercial programs.
Since the
moment of establishment of the command-measuring complex, its
experts have ensured the launch of and control over three thousand
spacecraft. The center took part in the implementation of all
joint international manned projects and projects of fundamental
research of deep space, as well as national security-related space
programs. In cooperation with representatives of over 150 organizations,
scientific-research institutes, research and design bureaus and
space centers, flight tests of over 250 types of military and
social-economic purpose space apparatuses were held.
For its history,
the command-measuring complex, later renamed as the Main Testing
Center, carried out over 7,000,000 sessions of controlling spacecraft.
The center is an association that ensures the control over 80%
of Russian military, dual social-economic, and scientific purpose
space apparatuses.
Since 2001,
Lt.-Gen. Nikolai Kolesnikov has headed the Main Center.