Russian Space Forces
The Russian Space Forces (Russian: Космические войска России, romanized: Kosmicheskie voyska Rossii, KV) are the space force branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Having been reestablished following August 1, 2015 merger between the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces after the independent arm of service was dissolved in 2011.
Russian Space Forces
- 1992–1997
- 2001–2011
- 1 August 2015 – present
14 минут до старта ("14 Minutes Until Start", official march)
4 October (Space Forces Day)
Formed on August 10, 1992 alongside the creation of the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian Space Forces was the first independent space force in the world. [1] The organization shared control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Roscosmos, the Federal Space Agency. It also operated the Plesetsk and the Svobodny Cosmodromes. However the Russian Space Forces were dissolved in July 1997 and incorporated into the Strategic Missile Forces.[2]
The Russian Space Forces were once again reformed as an independent troop on June 1, 2001, under a military reorganization. However, by December 2011, it was dissolved once again and this time replaced by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.[3]
On August 1, 2015, the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces were merged to form the Russian Aerospace Forces.[4][5] The Russian Space Forces were reestablished as a result, and are now one of three sub-branches of the new military branch.[6]
History[edit]
Soviet Strategic Missile Forces space troops[edit]
The Soviet Space Troops date back to February 12, 1955, when the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union issued a joint executive order for the establishment of Scientific Research and Testing Range for the development of space exploration technology, codenamed Tayga Installation (Обект «Тайга»).[7] The range was formally established on June 2, 1955, on Plot 10 - Zarya in Kyzylorda Region of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, when the General Staff of the Soviet Army established the structure and manpower requirements of the range and assigned the formal designation of 5th Scientific Research and Testing Range (5th SRTR, 5-й Научно-исследовательский испытательный полигон (5-й НИИП)).
From the beginning in the Soviet Union Space exploration was a military activity (unlike in the United States where it was the province of the civilian NASA). It was an integral part of the Soviet strategic ballistic missile force and by the time of the range's creation in 1955 this was the portfolio of the Deputy Minister of Defence for Special Weaponry and Rocket Technology. The first appointee (since March 1955) was (at the time) Marshal of Artillery, later Chief Marshal Of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin. On December 17, 1959, Marshal Nedelin's Deputy Minister apparatus was transformed into the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN).