"Kurs" was developed by the Research Institute of Precision Instruments (
Russian: НИИ Точных Приборов,
romanized: NII Tochnikh Priborov), Moscow, Legostaew, before 1985[1][2] and manufactured by the Kiev Radio Factory (
Ukrainian: Київський Радіозавод,
romanized: Kyyivskyy Radiozavod).[3]
History
Kurs was the successor to the
Igla system and today provides navigation beaconing for Russian space vehicles including the
Soyuz spacecraft and
Progress spacecraft. The main difference between both systems is that Igla requires the space station to collaborate in the docking maneuver by reorienting itself to point the docking port to the spacecraft, while Kurs allows to dock with a fully stationary space station. The main reason for this change was that Mir was to be a much bigger space station than the older Salyut, so the propellant consumption would be excessive. Kurs provided the automated docking system for all Russian spacecraft that docked with the Mir space station.[4][5] When used for docking, the Soyuz or Progress vehicle broadcasts radar pulses from multiple antennas. The variation in strength between the antennas allows the system to compute relative position, attitude, and approach rate. The system is designed for automatic rendezvous and docking, but in an emergency cosmonauts may take command of the vehicle, either locally or from the
International Space Station.[6]
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kurs system became the property of
Ukraine; its manufacturer became a competitor in the space launch business with the
Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA). Due to hard-currency problems, Kiev also raised the price of the Kurs system. Consequently, RKA sought to phase out its use in its vehicles.[7] A test using the Russian
TORU backup system to reduce reliance on Kurs, was responsible for the collision between Mir and
Progress M-34 and the damage to the
Spektr module, nearly causing Mir to be abandoned. After the collision and recovery, the next Progress ship had a failure of Kurs, and was docked successfully using the same TORU system.[8]
Kurs-NA
The Kurs-NA (
Russian: Новая Активная,
romanized: Novaya Aktivnaya,
lit. 'New Active') docking system, requiring only one rendezvous antenna and using less power, replaces Kurs-A, which required five antennas.[9] It was tested by
Progress M-15M in July 2012[9] and by
Progress M-21M in November 2013.[10] It is used on the
Progress MS (2015-present).
ISS
ATV
The now Russian-built antenna part of the Kurs system also served as an independent and redundant docking monitoring system for the European
Automated Transfer Vehicle.[11] It served as an additional monitoring system and could not be used to control the approach or docking of the ATV.[12]
Failures
On 18 November 2000 during the docking of
Progress M1-4 with the
International Space Station the Kurs system failed requiring a manual docking approach by Soyuz commander
Yuri Gidzenko. The failure was due to a software glitch that prevented the ship's computer system from smoothly switching from guidance data transmitted by antennas on the Zvezda module to signals transmitted from Zarya. A later redocking had to be done manually, also by
Gidzenko, as an antenna required for the final approach was irreversibly retracted during the initial approach.[13]
Immediately after launch of
Progress M-01M on 26 November 2008, a Kurs antenna failed to deploy.[14] The antenna was successfully deployed about three hours later after flight controllers resent the deployment command,[15] however the spacecraft was docked to the
International Space Station using the
TORU system,[16] controlled by
CosmonautYury Lonchakov, as a precaution.
On 1 May 2010
Progress M-05M was about 1 kilometer away from the
International Space Station when its Kurs system failed.
Oleg Kotov used the backup
TORU system to manually control the rendezvous and docking, setting a record for the furthest distance a Progress spacecraft was flown under manual control.[18][19]
On 15 December 2015 during the docking of
Soyuz TMA-19M with the
International Space Station the Kurs system mis-aligned the spacecraft and failed to dock, requiring a manual docking approach piloted by Soyuz Commander
Yuri Malenchenko. This delayed the docking by 10 minutes.[20]
On 24 August 2019 during the docking of the uncrewed
Soyuz MS-14 with the
International Space Station the spacecraft failed to lock on to the
Poisk Module port due to a failure in a Kurs signal amplifier on the
Poisk module and failed to dock. Since the backup
TORU system was not installed on the vehicle, the docking attempt was aborted. It was decided that
Soyuz MS-13 would be manually relocated onto the faulty Poisk port, freeing up the
Zvezda aft port for Soyuz MS-14 to dock there successfully three days later on 27 August.[21]
On 17 February 2021 during final approach
Progress MS-16 suffered a communication issue 20m from the station. Kurs was deactivated and
Sergey Ryzhikov took manual control with the
TORU system and docked successfully.[22]
On 5 October 2021 during the docking of
Soyuz MS-19 there was a malfunction of the Kurs system on the
Rassvet port, requiring the Soyuz spacecraft commander
Anton Shkaplerov to take control and dock manually.[23]
As of May 2022, there have been 83 successful dockings to the
International Space Station performed by Kurs with Soyuz & Progress vehicles, and the
Nauka station module, giving Kurs a 90.4% success rate.
See also
TriDAR, a relative navigation vision system used on three
Space Shuttle flights to the
ISS
^"Space Measuring Docking Systems". History. Research Institute of Precision Instruments (NII TP). Archived from
the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2008. The first automated docking of "Mir" orbital station with "Soyuz TM1" spacecraft was implemented on May 23, 1986 by means of the "Kurs" equipment. [..] "Kurs-ММ" docking system for short-range spacecraft has been designed for the upgraded spacecraft under the ISS program [..] "Kurs-M" radio-electronic system for "Kurs-ATV", for monitoring of rendezvous and docking ATV- spacecraft (European Space Agency) with the ISS on range and radial velocity
^"The First Serially Produced Onboard Computer". The European Virtual Computer Museum. The History of Development of Computer Science and Technologies in Ukraine. Archived from
the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2008. The production association Kiev Radio Factory aimed its further development toward the production of equipment for space exploration. In 1966 it started the production of a unique onboard complex named Igla for search, mutual orientation, approach and "docking" of "space" vehicles. [..] In 1985 the Igla was succeeded by the Kurs, a more advanced and reliable system, which is working now on the Mir Soyuz Progress complex.
^Burrough, Bryan (1998).
Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir. Fourth Estate. p. 65.
ISBN0-06-093269-4. Since 1985 all Russian spacecraft had used the Kurs computers to dock automatically with the Mir station [..] All the Russian commanders had to do was sit by and watch.
^Hinman, Elaine M; Bushman, David M. (1991). "Soviet automated rendezvous and docking system overview".
NASA Automated Rendezvous and Capture Review Executive Summary(PDF) (Technical report). pp. 34–35.
Bibcode:
1991arcr.nasa...34H. IGLA system was replaced with the current KURS system. Both systems are radar-based. [..] the docking process can be controlled either from the ground or from the active (docking) spacecraft's onboard computer. [..] Soyuz TM and Progress M Series spacecraft incorporated the KURS. The MIR Complex has both systems installed.
^"Safety and autonomy make the ATV unique". European Space Agency. 12 October 2005. Retrieved 1 September 2012. the crew members cannot manually pilot the ATV by remote control