An Examination of Soviet and Russian Military Space Systems

Date of Graduation

Fall 1998

Degree

Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies

Department

Defense and Strategic Studies

Committee Chair

Jack Crouch

Abstract

The USSR, the world's largest spacefarer, launched the first object into space, the first man, the first woman and the first anti-satellite weapon. The USSR launched thousands of vehicles during its existence and maintained the longest orbiting space station. The Russian Federation, the largest Successor State to the USSR maintains the former Union's space forces. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has entered into several international agreements with France, Canada, the United States and other countries regarding activities in outer space. Russia continues in the path of the USSR in researching and constructing new innovative projects for outer space vehicles, satellites, and probes. However, with the economic difficulties facing the Russian Federation since 1991, many projects do not reach fruition and launches have been drastically scaled back. By examining the Soviet Union's past space endeavors and Russia's current endeavors, this thesis examines the effort of the USSR and Russia in furthering their space forces, including an analysis of the USSR's and Russia's military space doctrine and the future of Russia's military space forces.

Subject Categories

Defense and Security Studies

Copyright

© Ian Arthur Maddock

Citation-only

Dissertation/Thesis

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