New Payload for Russian SS-18s
updated 3:00 a.m. 24.Apr.99.PDT
by Leander Kahney
2:30 p.m. 23.Apr.99.PDT
In a unique form of beating swords into
plowshares, a decommissioned Russian
nuclear missile has put a commercial
satellite into orbit.
Instead of its original mission -- dropping
a nuclear warhead on a Western city --
an SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile
fired a British telecom satellite into low
Earth orbit on Wednesday.
Launched from a silo in Kazakhstan, in
Central Asia, the mission marks the first
time a decommissioned nuclear missile has
been used for a commercial space launch,
said Surrey Satellite Technology, which
built the satellite.
"It was quite spectacular," said
spokeswoman Audrey Nice.
During the launch, the missile was
ejected from its silo by a large explosion,
and the rockets lit about 40 meters
above the ground, Nice said.
Nicknamed "Satan" by NATO, the SS-18
was the most powerful intercontinental
ballistic missile of its era.
It was capable of delivering a single
25-megaton nuclear warhead, or multiple
smaller warheads, and was significantly
larger than its US equivalent, the
Peacekeeper.
First deployed in 1975, the SS-18 is a
two-stage, liquid-propelled rocket. Most
SS-18s were targeted at Western nuclear
missile silos, though up to 1,000 may
have been aimed at Western cities.
Most of the Soviet Union's SS-18 arsenal
was decommissioned as part of the 1991
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, and
about 160 rockets were acquired by
Moscow-based Kosmotras, a Russian
space company, for commercial launches.
"The Russians have a large amount of
rocket power and they have to dispose of
it," said Nice, noting that prior to
Wednesday's launch the Russians had
performed 153 test flights. "They have to
get rid of them one way or the other."
Even though the missile was
decommissioned, engineers from Surrey
Satellite Technology weren't allowed near
it after handing over the satellite to the
Russians, Nice said.
For civilian use, a converted SS-18 can
lift four tons of payload into orbit.
Wednesday's launch lifted only the Surrey
Satellite Technology's 350kg,
multipurpose minisatellite.
Nice said that using old nuclear missiles
instead of commercial rockets should
save money, although she declined to
estimate how much.
The satellite, insured for US$3.5 million,
will be used for scientific Earth
observation and digital communications.
As for the SS-18, another one is
scheduled to put four satellites into orbit
simultaneously, Nice said.
Surrey Satellite Technology, based in
Guildford, has built 16 civil and military
satellites for customers that include the
US Air Force and the French Ministry of
Defense.
The company previously used Ariane, a
European space company; Delta, an
American firm; and the Russian Space
Agency, which uses conventional launch
rockets.
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