UHF-Satcom.com - SOVIET SPACE FREQUENCY USAGE
This page is presented as a historical reminder of frequencies used by the Russian Space programme in the past.
FREQUENCY(MHZ) DESCRIPTION SPACECRAFT
19.542 FSK-PDM SOVIET RADAR OCEAN SURVEILLANCE
SATELLITES(THERE MIGHT BE MORE F-1
ROCKET MISSION THAT USE THIS FREQ)
19.954 FSK-PDM(NOTE 1) ADD-ON MODULES ON SALYUT SPACE
STATIONS(K929,1267,1443,1686)
19.989 FSK(NOTE 2) RECON SATELLITES WITH 15 DAY LIVES
K1623, 1628, 1632, 1644,1648,1649,
1653, 1663, 1664, 1665, 1668,1671,
1678, 1681, 1683, 1696, 1702,1705,
1708, 1715, 1728, 1730, 1740,1746,
1747, 1760, 1765, 1772, 1775,1781,
1787, 1790, 1804.
19.995 CW "MORSE CODE" RECOVERY BEACON FOR KOSMOS RECONS
(NOTE 3) 1671, 1696, 1702, 1740, 1742,1760,
AND 1765.
20.008 CW-PDM(NOTE 1) SALYUT AND SOYUZ-T SPACECRAFT.
(SALYUT 7 AND SOYUZ T-13/14/15)
29.331 CW TELEMETRY RADIO SPUTNIK 5(AMATEUR SATELLITE)
29.341 CW TELEMETRY RADIO SPUTNIK 7(AMATEUR SATELLITE)
29.400 CW TELEMETRY(NOTE 4) RADIO SPUTNIK 1(AMATUER SATELLITE)
THIS SATELLITE HAS OCCASIONAL
LIFE. TMS ARE MESSED UP.
29.454 CW TELEMETRY(NOTE 4) RADIO SPUTNIK 5(AMATEUR SATELLITE)
29.500 CW TELEMETRY(NOTE 4) RADIO SPUTNIK 7(AMATEUR SATELLITE)
39.978 FSK(NOTE 2) RECONNAISSANCE KOSMOS WITH LIFE
UP TO 15 DAYS: KOSMOS 1768. 2ND
HARMONIC OF 19.989
51.100 CW BEACON KOSMOS 1151 (OCEAN RESEARCH)
51.140 CW BEACON KOSMOS HEAVY ELINT SATELLITES
51.160 CW BEACON ALTERNATE KOSMOS HVY ELINT FREQ
51.200 CW BEACON KOSMOS STORE-DUMP COMSATS
137.050(DRIFTS APT AT 4 LINES/S METEOR 30
DOWN IN FREQ)
137.180 AM/FM bHASKARA 1 AND bHASKARA 2(IND)
137.300 APT AT 2 LINES/S METEOR 2-11/2-13/2-14
137.400 APT AT 2 LINES/S METEOR 2-10/2-12/2-13/METEOR 3-1
INFRARED @ 20 LINES/M
137.400 APT AT 4 LINES/S KOSMOS 1500/1602/1766
(NOTE 5) OCEANOGRAPHIC SATELLITES
137.850 APT AT 2 LINES/S METEOR 2-8/2-14/METEOR 3
142.417 FM VOICE SALYUT 7
143.625 FM VOICE MIR(SALYUT 8)
149.910 AM/FM(NOTE 6) KOSMOS MILITARY NAVSAT IN 83 DEG,
105 MIN ORBIT: KOSMOS 1610(2)
1709(2)
149.940 AM/FM(NOTE 6) KOSMOS MILITARY NAVSAT: 1333(7),
1513(6), 1535 (8), 1598 (3), 1634
(6), 1704 (8), 1759 (6), 1808 (3)
149.970 AM/FM(NOTE 6) KOSMOS MILITARY NAVSAT: 1605(4),
1627 (1), 1745 (1), 1802 (4)
150.000 AM/FM(NOTE 6) KOSMOS(COSPAR) CIVIL NAVSAT: 1447
(13), 1506 (12), 1553 (11), 1574
(14), 1655 (13), 1727 (12), 1791
(11).
150.030 AM/FM(NOTE 6) KOSMOS MILITARY NAVSAT: 1464 (5),
1577 (5), 1725 (5)
150.300 FM W/300 KHZ-WIDE 2ND GENERATION KOSMOS GEODETIC
PCM TMS, 2S FRAME SATELLITE: 1589/1660/1803
LENGTH
153.420 CW BEACON @ < 1 WATT HEAVY ELINT KOSMOS: 1626,1633,1536
1674,1703,1707,1733, 1782.
3RD HARMONIC OF 51.140 MHZ.
153.480 CW BCN @ < 1 WATT ALTERNATE FREQ HVY ELINT: 1666
1544,1633,1726,1743,1758.
3RD HARMONIC OF 51.160 MHZ.
153.600 CW BCN @ < 1 WATT STORE DUMP KOSMOS DISCOVERED BY
CLIFF RANFT AT CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND
KOSMOS 1354,1538,1570,1624,1680,
1741.
165.000 PPM-AM 300 KHZ WIDE SALYUT 7
(NOTE 7)
166.000 FM TMS 300 KHZ WIDE SOYUZ T-13/14/15,PROGRESS TANKERS
(NOTE 8) POSSIBLY MIR AND SOYUZ TM-1/2/3
166.000 PPN-AM 300 KHZ WIDE RORSAT: KOSMOS 1736
(NOTE 7) EORSAT: KOSMOS 1769
179.985 CW BEACON CHINA 17/19 PHOTO RECON SATELLITE
192.000 PPM-AM 300 KHZ WIDE SALYUT 7
(NOTE 7)
204.560 CW BCN < 1 WATT COHERENT WITH BCN AT 153.420, 4TH
HARMONIC OF 51.140
204.640 CW BCN < 1 WATT COHERENT WITH BCN AT 153.480, 4TH
HARMONIC OF 51.160
204.800 CW BCN < 1 WATT COHERENT WITH STORE-DUMP BCN AT
153.600, HARMONIC OF 51.200
231.500 FM TMS 300 KHZ WIDE NEW SIGNAL TYPE FOR KOSMOS RECON
(NOTE 8) WITH LIFE UP TO 15 DAYS, 1ST NOTED
W/1685,1765,1787,1804.
232.000 PPM-AM 300 KHZ WIDE KOSMOS RECONS W/LIFE UP TO 15 DAYS
TRANSMITTING ON 19.989 MHZ.
KOSMOS 1715,1728,1740.
240.000 FM TMS 300 KHZ WIDE 4TH GENERATION KOSMOS RECONS:LONG
(NOTE 8) DURATION: 1616, 1630, 1647, 1654
1679, 1699, 1706, 1724, 1734, 1739
1764, AND 1807
247.000 FM TMS 300 KHZ WIDE ADD-ON MODULES(SEE 19.954)
248.000 PPM-AM 300 KHZ WIDE SUN-SYNCHRONOUS EARTH RESOURCES:
(NOTE 7) KOSMOS 1689 TYPE
393.675 FM TELEMETRY CHINA 17/19 PHOTO RECON SATELLITE
399.760 UNMODULATED CARRIER COHERENT WITH 149.910 MHZ.
399.840 UNMODULATED CARRIER COHERENT WITH 149.940 MHZ.
399.920 UNMODULATED CARRIER COHERENT WITH 149.970 MHZ.
400.000 UNMODULATED CARRIER COHERENT WITH 150.000 MHZ.
400.080 UNMODULATED CARRIER COHERENT WITH 150.030 MHZ.
400.800 CW BEACON COHERENT WITH 150.300 MHZ.
479.970 CW BEACON CHINA 19
922.750 CW @ 10 W RADIATED SALYUT AND SOYUZ SPACECRAFT
(SALYUT 7/SOYUZ T-13/14/15)
926.070 CW @ 10 W RADIATED SALYUT SPACECRAFT(SALYUT 7)
1246.8750 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1520 (GLONASS)
1247.7500 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1710 (GLONASS)
1249.0625 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1650 (GLONASS)
1249.9375 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1554/1651 (GLONASS)
1253.4375 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1595 (GLONASS)
1254.3125 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1711 (GLONASS)
1256.5000 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1555 (GLONASS)
1603.1250 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1520 (GLONASS)
1603.6875 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1490 (GLONASS)
1604.2500 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1710 (GLONASS)
1605.9375 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1650 (GLONASS)
1607.0625 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1554 (GLONASS)
1607.6250 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1651 (GLONASS)
1611.5625 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1595 (GLONASS)
1612.1250 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1519 (GLONASS)
1612.6875 SPREAD SPECTRUM KOSMOS 1711 (GLONASS)
1691.00 METEOR 30
1694.50 METEOR 30
2298.00 CW BEACON EARLY WARNING SATELLITES
2304.00 CW BEACON EARLY WARNING SATELLITES
{
NOTES:
1. FREQUENCY-SHIFT KEYED(FSK) WITH THE 'OFF' AND 'ON' PERIODS TRANSMITTED
ON TWO ADJACENT FREQUENCIES APPROXIMATELY 1 KHZ APART. THE TELEMETRY FRAME
CONSIST OF A TRAIN OF RAPID SYNCHRONIZING PULSES FOLLOWED BY 15 WORDS
TRANSMITTED AT A RATE OF APPROXIMATELY ONE PER SECOND. THESE WORDS ARE
PULSE DURATION MODULATED (PDM).
A VARIATION OF THIS BASIC TELEMETRY SYSTEM TRANSMITS ONLY THE 'ON'
PERIODS AS A KEYED CONTINOUS WAVE(CW). OTHERWISE THE FORMAT IS THE SAME
AS THAT FOR THE FSK-PDM.
2. FREQUENCY-SHIFT KEYING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT FREQUENCIES
APPROXIMATELY 1 KHZ APART. EACH FREQUENCY IS TRANSMITTED FOR EQUAL
DURATIONS SO THERE IS NO INFORMATION CONTENT IN THE SIGNAL. THE TIME FOR
ONE COMPLETE CYCLE CARIES FROM ONE SATELLITE TO ANOTHER AND IS BETWEEN
1.4 AND 1.8 SECONDS. DIFFERENCES IN CYCLE-DURATION CAN BE USED TO
DISTINGUISH SATELLITES IN ORBIT SIMULTANEOUSLY.
3. KEYED CW SIGNAL CONSISTING OF A REPETITIVE SEQUENCE ON MORSE CODE
CHARACTER PAIRS, E.G. TF. THE DASH OF THE T HAS TWICE THE DURATION OF THE
DASH IN THE F. THIS COMMON TO ALL RECOVERY BEACONS OBSERVED TO DATE.
4. CONVENTIONAL MORSE CODE CHARACTER GROUPS IN FOUR 7-WORD FRAMES EACH
PREFIXED BY THE IDENTIFIER, E.G. RS7. THE WORDS OF THE FIRST FRAME BEGIN
WITH LETTERS K, D, O, G, U, S, W AND END WITH A 2-DIGIT NUMBER. SUBSEQUENT
FRAMES USE THE SAME SEQUENCE OF LETTERS PRECEDED BY I, A, M. WHEN THE
SATELLITE IS IN THE 'COMMAND' MODE, THE FOUR FRAMES START WITH THE LETTERS
E, S, U, W OBTAINED BY ADDING A 'DOT' IN MORSE CODE IN FRONT OF THE
CHARACTERS OF THE FIRST SET, E.G. I(..) BECOMES S(...), A(.-) BECOMES
U(..-), ETC.
5. APT TRANSMITTED IS SIMILIAR TO THAT FROM THE SUN-SYNCHRONOUS METEOR 30
BUT IMAGERY CAN SHOW VISIBLE AND RADAR SWATHS CONTIGUOUSLY.
6. MODULATION-RATE OF 50 BITS/S. THE DATA TO BE TRANSMITTED SELECTS A LOW
FREQUENCY AND THE RESULTING SEQUENCE AMPLITUDE MODULATES THE VHF CARRIER.
THE DATA TO BE TRANSMITTED SELECT EITHER 3, 5, OR 7 KHZ PRODUCING SIDE
BANDS A, B, C AFTER MODULATING THE CARRIER. ONLY THE 3 AND 5 KHZ CARRY THE
BINARY INFORMATION. TRANSITIONAL ENCODING IS EMPLOYED, BINARY 1 BEING
REPRESENTED BY A CHANGE FROM 3 TO 5 KHZ OR VICE-VERSA. bINARY 0 PRODUCES
NO SHIFT IN FREQUENCY. THE 7 KHZ TONE PROVIDES TIME SYNCHRONIZATION EVERY
SECOND.
THE NUMBERS FOR THE NAVSATS GIVEN IN PARENTHESIS FOLLOWING THE KOSMOS
NUMBERS ALLOCATED TO THE SATELLITES BY THE SOVIETS.
7. IN THIS PULSED AM TRANSMISSION, 4 MICROSECONDS-LONG PULSES ARE
TRANSMITTED EVERY 80 MICROSECONDS. THESE PULSES DEFINE WORDS IN THE
TELEMETRY FORMAT. WITHIN EACH SUCH INTERVAL A WORD-VALUE PULSE IS
TRANSMITTED. ITS POSITION IN THE 80 MICROSECOND WORD-INTERVAL DEFINES
THE PARTICULAR WORD-VALUE TRANSMITTED. SUCH A SYSTEM IS PULSE-POSITION
MODULATED AMPLITUDE MODULATION (PPM-AM). THERE IS ALSO A SECOND MODE WITH
A WORD-INTERVAL OF 96 MICROSECONDS.
8. THIS TELEMETRY SIGNAL CONSIST OF AN APPROXIMATELY 300 KHZ-WIDE FM
SPECTRUM WITH MOST ENERGY AT THE EDGES OF THE SIGNAL BANDWIDTH, INDICATING
A HIGH MODULATION INDEX. THE MODULATING SIGNAL IS PROBABLY AN
AMPLITUDE-MODULATED PULSE TRAIN(PAM). THE NORMAL FRAME-DURATION IS 10
MILLISECONDS AND THE NORMAL FRAME COMPRISES 32 WORDS. IT HAS NOT BEEN
POSSIBLE TO MEASURE THE FORMAT-LENGTH TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF
SUB-COMMUTATION USED.
THERE ARE STILL ALOT OF SOVIET SPACECRAFT SIGNALS TO BE FOUND.
SEVERAL CLASSES OF SATELLITES HAVE ESCAPED DETECTION BY AMATEURS OF THEIR
RADIO SIGNALS. SOME OF THE KOSMOS MISSIONS I HAVE NO DATA FOR ARE AS
FOLLOWS:
1) 8 LAUNCHED TACTICAL SATELLITES(THESE ARE SIMILIAR TO IDSCP SATELLITES
LAUNCHED BY THE US. WE MIGHT FIND THEM WITH TM BEACONS AROUND 400 MHZ.
2) 1603 CLASS ELINT SATELLITES.
3) GEOSTATIONARY COMSATS WITH KOSMOS LABELS. SOME OF THESE MIGHT
REPRESENT THE LONG AWAITED VOLNA TRANSPONDERS WITH UHF PACKAGES. THESE
WOULD BE SIMILIAR TO A FLTSATCOM/LEASAT SYSTEM. ANYONE NOTING ANY UNUSUAL
225-400 MHZ ACTIVITY TO THE EAST OF THE US NOT COVERED BY COMMUNICATION{
SATELLITES PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL ALERT ALL.
4) SPACE PLANE TEST
5) ALL CLASSES OF MINOR MILITARY SATELLITES.
6) TV SIGNAL TRANSMISSIONS FROM SALYUT SPACECRAFT.