The invention relates to laser engineering, namely to laser range-finding devices with misaligned receiving and transmitting channels. Device comprises a transmitting channel for forming a beam of probing radiation and directing it to a target, which includes a laser emitter and a collimating output lens which is optically connected thereto, as well as a receiving channel for receiving a target reflected by the target, which includes a photodetector and an input lens which is optically connected to it. Optical axis of the receiving channel is turned towards the transmitting channel at an angle such that at the limit range of measurements the visual field of the receiving channel covers the laser spot by touching the inner edge of the laser spot with its outer edge.
In short, there are strong indications that GRPZ is working on computer vision systems (possibly including laser rangefinders) for rendezvous and proximity operations in the Nivelir project, but conclusive evidence for that is still lacking.
Quote from: B. Hendrickx on 02/12/2020 09:20 amIn short, there are strong indications that GRPZ is working on computer vision systems (possibly including laser rangefinders) for rendezvous and proximity operations in the Nivelir project, but conclusive evidence for that is still lacking.This might not be the right thread but for less knowledgable but interested readers like myself, do you have any insight whether such Computer Vision systems are an evolution of whatever automatic docking Soyuz et al use? I mean, I have seen Computer Vision in action on SpaceX/ ISS Cargo docking system, and the European one as well. Not familiar with the Russian solutions. Hence, could we clarify what is different here? Just the ability to go beyond ISS docking to do proximity ranging with a "random" satellite to not collide with long extruding poles/antenna's? Or how would this help a future version of Cosmos 2542? Curious minds are enquiring
Cosmos 2543 has been reported to have released a sub-object described as a weapons test. 2543 was previously assumed to be a Nivelir satellite, but it may be part of Burevestnik instead.
US Space Force Commander claims Russia has armed satellite in orbitRussia already has deployed in low-earth orbit a "nesting doll" satellite armed with a weapon that can destroy US satellites vital for communications, command and control and precision targeting, Space Force Commander General John Raymond said on Tuesday."Russia has a nesting doll satellite [in orbit] to destroy US satellites, armed with a weapon to destroy US satellites," Raymond told the Air Force Association (AFA) Air Space Cyber Conference at National Harbor in the US state of Maryland. "It denies our ability to leverage space as a force multiplier."Raymond claimed the satellite is designed like a Russian "nesting doll," with an outer casing that opens up to reveal an inner satellite shell and that shell also opens to reveal a weapon that can fire at and destroy US orbiting satellites from a safe distance.He went on to posit that the satellite is targeted at destroying US space assets that are essential for accurate long-range precision targeting and fires for "smart" munitions launched from bombers and other weapons.The Russian satellite Kosmos 2542 was launched in November 2019 and in December 2019, it released a sub-satellite, Kosmos-2543 which then carried out a series of manoeuvres that US military officials interpreted as a show of force, published reports said.Russia has given no credence to the claims that the satellite system was offensive in nature.
One other clue that GRPZ is involved in developing satellite rendezvous technology comes in a PhD dissertation defended in 2015 by Kristina Mironova, another researcher of the Ryazan State Radiotechnical University. http://www.dslib.net/mat-modelirovanie/metody-matematicheskogo-modelirovanija-upravlenija-malymi-kosmicheskimi-apparatami-na.html(only a summary is available online)Her dissertation was related to rendezvous and proximity operations between small satellites and GRPZ is given as one of the organizations where the results of her research were applied. The exact goal of the research is somewhat vague, but one of the things she did was to make computer simulations of small satellites being ejected from one platform and flying to another platform in space, as can be seen in the attached illustration from the dissertation (a femtosatellite (FS) flying from space platform 1 (KP 1) to space platform 2 (KP 2)).
Russia has launched satellite 14F150 Nivelir into orbit under a mission dubbed Kosmos-2558, and its current orbital path could soon place it in close proximity to what is reported to be the spy satellite designated USA-326. Unconfirmed rumors that the asset will serve as an 'inspector' satellite to covertly spy on nearby spacecraft have begun to circulate online following the launch and would line up with Russia’s known on-orbit anti-satellite weapons capabilities and developments.
Some rare court documentation related to Nivelir has appeared online in recent weeks. https://kad.arbitr.ru/Card/343af8b8-1d2a-4fca-bfe8-da51e2b5e8b5https://kad.arbitr.ru/Card/f7be05f5-040d-44b5-94ba-efe1e32c41eb
The most recent edition of the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ “Space Threat Assessment” report contains a fuzzy picture of Kosmos-2558 taken from another satellite. The report can be downloaded here:https://www.csis.org/analysis/space-threat-assessment-2024(see p. 18)As explained earlier here, Kosmos-2558 is the third 14F150 satellite, a product of NPO Lavochkin that is part of the Nivelir project. It has been closely monitoring the US reconnaissance satellite USA 326 since its launch in August 2022. The picture is credited to HEO Robotics, a company that uses its HOLMES cameras as hosted payloads on microsatellites to obtain images of other objects in space. According to its website, it currently employs over 30 sensors in low Earth orbit and partners with "commercial companies, governments and defense around the world". Since the Earth is in the background, Kosmos-2558 must have been imaged from a satellite orbiting above it. This is also more or less the way it should look from the vantage point of USA 326, which is orbiting roughly 40 km above Kosmos-2558 .I earlier speculated that 14F150 may be a satellite seen in a PowerPoint presentation of NPO Lavochkin in 2012 as well as in a presentation given by an NPO Lavochkin representative at the Army-2016 exhibition in Moscow. See the Nivelir thread:https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=50125.0(Reply 4)The satellite in those presentations uses NPO Lavochkin’s new Karat-200 platform and has some type of telescope mounted on the bus. In the 2012 presentation (where it is in the lower left) it is described as one of three proposed satellites for “studies of the Earth and near-Earth space”. The satellite seen in the HEO Robotics image does indeed seem to bear some resemblance to the one in the NPO Lavochkin presentations. The black features on either side must be the solar panels and the white feature the satellite bus. There seems to be some type of payload pointing upwards from the bus, not unlike the telescope seen in the NPO Lavochkin images, but this, admittedly, may be a case of “wishful seeing".
Project Nivelir: Russia’s inspection satellites (part 1)Two Russian satellites launched in 2022 and 2024 have been monitoring two big American electro-optical reconnaissance satellites orbiting several dozen kilometers above them. Their missions are reminiscent of two others launched in 2017 and 2019. All that Russia has officially revealed about their objectives is that they are intended for Earth remote sensing and inspection of other satellites in orbit. However, the two first satellites each deployed a small subsatellite that in turn released a high-speed object which the Pentagon believes is an anti-satellite weapon. While the latest two satellites have so far not ejected any subsatellites, they are undoubtedly being closely watched. After the launch of the latest satellite last year, US Space Command called it “a likely counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit”.The Russian missions can be identified as being part of a project called Nivelir (“dumpy level”), which was initiated in 2011 and appears to have multiple goals. Although much of the project remains wrapped in secrecy, a significant amount of information on it has become available over the years through open-source intelligence. This article attempts to sum up all that can be learned about the project’s organizational background, the design of the satellites and their optical payloads, as well as the ground support infrastructure.[1] It has become clear in recent years that, besides Nivelir, there are a few other projects involving inspection satellites, but these remain poorly understood.
