en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nivelir
3 corrections found
making a series of 11 maneuvers near its Briz-M upper stage
Kosmos-2504 was launched on a Rokot with a Briz-KM upper stage, not a Briz-M upper stage.
Full reasoning
The upper stage named here is the wrong Briz variant.
Kosmos-2504 launched on a Rokot/Briz-KM mission. Open-source tracking analyses of the mission identify the object it approached as the Briz-KM stage that delivered it to orbit. A TASS report on Rokot launches likewise states that Rokot missions use the Briz-KM upper stage.
So describing Kosmos-2504's early maneuvers as taking place near a Briz-M stage is incorrect; it should be Briz-KM.
2 sources
- The Space Review: Dancing in the dark redux: Recent Russian rendezvous and proximity operations in space
By mid-June, hobbyist satellite observers started reporting that satno 39765 (Object E) had begun maneuvering to match orbits with the Briz-KM rocket body ... The last two of those rendezvoused with the Briz-KM upper stage that deployed them into orbit.
- Rokot rocket brings military satellites to suborbital flight trajectory - TASS
The Briz-KM upper stage linked to three military satellites has separated from the second stage of the Rokot carrier rocket... "The placing of spacecraft into calculated orbits by the Briz-KM upper stage will take about two hours."
9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered air-launched direct ascent ASAT
This mixes up two different Russian programs. 9M730 Burevestnik is a nuclear-powered cruise missile, while the anti-satellite project called Burevestnik is a separate space program (Project 14K168).
Full reasoning
Open sources distinguish two different Russian systems named Burevestnik.
- 9M730 Burevestnik is a nuclear-powered cruise missile. CSIS's Missile Threat identifies it as the "9M730 Burevestnik ... cruise missile" and describes a test launch from the Kapustin Yar missile range.
- The anti-satellite project called Burevestnik is a separate space project with the military index 14K168. Bart Hendrickx's detailed review in The Space Review says that 14K168 is an air-launched anti-satellite system, and explicitly states that the 9M730 cruise missile name "has no connection whatsoever to the ASAT project."
So the article's phrase incorrectly combines the cruise-missile designation 9M730 with the separate ASAT project 14K168, treating them as the same weapon when the cited sources say they are not.
2 sources
- Russia Tests Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile | Missile Threat
On January 29, Russia conducted the first test launch of its nuclear-powered 9M730 Burevestnik (SSC-X-9 "SKYFALL") cruise missile in almost a year at the Kapustin Yar missile test range.
- The Space Review: Burevestnik: a Russian air-launched anti-satellite system
Burevestnik ... was also the name given ... to a nuclear-powered cruise missile (9M730) ... This has no connection whatsoever to the ASAT project. ... The index for the Burevestnik space complex is 14K168.
9M730 Burevestnik (Project 14K168) nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered co-orbital ASAT
This again conflates two separate systems: 9M730 Burevestnik is the cruise missile Putin unveiled in 2018, while Project 14K168 Burevestnik is a different anti-satellite project.
Full reasoning
The text incorrectly equates 9M730 Burevestnik with Project 14K168 Burevestnik.
According to CSIS, 9M730 Burevestnik is a nuclear-powered cruise missile. By contrast, The Space Review identifies 14K168 Burevestnik as a separate anti-satellite space complex and says the 9M730 missile name "has no connection whatsoever to the ASAT project." The same article also notes that the 14K168 project had been developing through procurement records and was not the weapon publicly unveiled by Putin in 2018; the 2018 unveiling was of the 9M730 cruise missile.
So the article is wrong to present 9M730 and 14K168 as the same system.
2 sources
- Russia Tests Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile | Missile Threat
On January 29, Russia conducted the first test launch of its nuclear-powered 9M730 Burevestnik (SSC-X-9 "SKYFALL") cruise missile...
- The Space Review: Burevestnik: a Russian air-launched anti-satellite system
Burevestnik ... was also the name given ... to a nuclear-powered cruise missile (9M730) ... This has no connection whatsoever to the ASAT project. The index for the Burevestnik space complex is 14K168.