Almaz

The Almaz (????? - "Diamond") program was a series of military space stations launched by the Soviet Union under cover of the Salyut program. Three Almaz stations were launched; Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. Salyut 2 failed shortly after achieving orbit, but Salyut 3 and 5 both conducted successful manned testing. Following Salyut 5 the Soviet Military judged that the time consumed by station maintenance outweighed the benefits.

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Almaz was promoted by Vladimir Chelomei as a response to the USAF's Manned Orbiting Laboratory project. In its original configuration Almaz and MOL were very similar, with the station being launched on a Proton rocket with a two man crew who would return to earth after a month of military observation in a descent capsule. Following the delays to the Soyuz project, Almaz also assumed the role of intercepting military satellites. Once launched Almaz would be resupplied by the TKS spacecraft that also used Chelomei's Proton booster.

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In addition to reconnaisance equipment, the Almaz had an on-board 23mm Nudelmann aircraft cannon (other sources say it was a Nudelmann NR-30 30mm gun). Salyut 3 conducted a successful test firing on a target satellite.

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Following the cancellation of the manned Almaz program, leftover Almaz spaceframes flew, a decade later, as unmanned radar satellites. The TKS spacecraft formed the basis of modules attached to the Mir space station and components of the International Space Station.

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Space station: A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live on in outer space. A space station is distinguished from other manned spacecraft by its lack of major propulsion or landing facilities — instead, other vehicles are used as transport to and from the station. Space stations...

Soviet Union: The Soviet Union, also called The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (?????????? ?????; tr.: Sovetsky Soyuz or (????) ; tr.: Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik ), was an officially socialist state founded in 1922, centered on Russia, and dissolved in 1991. From 1945 until its d...

Salyut: The Salyut (Russian: ?????, Salute or Firework) program was a series of space stations launched by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The Salyuts were all relatively simple structures consisting of a single main module placed into orbit in a single launch. The program was originally designated the DOS 7...