Russia launched 15-year-old ocean surveillance satellite

Russia's recent launch of a 15-year-old US-PU Legend (or Legenda) ocean surveillance satellite that failed to activate one of its two solar batteries is indicative of not only Russia's continuing effort to keep its ocean surveillance system operational, but also obsolescence of the system.

http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=687139

July 03, 2006 Spying Satellite Fails Mission

Launched to orbit June 25, the Legend satellite of offshore electronic reconnaissance has failed so far to get down to performing the tasks. Of two solar batteries, one didn't open and the satellite lacks power to activate devices of surveillance and target indication.

It was the U.S. Space Command that first reported problems of Russia's US-PU satellite. Though the RF Defense Ministry, Russia's Space Agency (Roskosmos) and Space Forces declined to comment, a source with the General Naval Staff said Saturday that Cosmos-2421 [US-PU got this name after delivery into the orbit] really has problems, which are currently tackled by experts.

The satellite spent past week in maneuvers, attempting to open the second battery. All efforts proved fruitless, the source said, but Arsenal Design Bureau that eveloped the satellite still hopes to remove trouble. But the military don't share optimism of producers, the more so that the satellite was made 15 years ago and kept in the stockpile till the launch. Besides, Arsenal has troubles not only with US-PU but also with a new Liana, which is expected to replace Legend.

According to Norman Friedman's Seapower and Space published in 2000, the Soviets were satisfied with the performance of the Legenda system during the Falklands War in 1982 when it allowed the Soviet General Staff to determine the precise moment when the British began to land troops in the Falkland Sound. Some Soviet writers alleged that American anti-satellite weapon programs in the 1980's were an indirect tribute to the success of their space-based ocean reconnaissance system.

The tracks of Russian satellites that monitored movement of British warships in April 1982.