Soviet Strategic Missile Forces space troops The Soviet Space Troops date back to 12 February 1955, when the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the
Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union issued a joint executive order for the establishment of Scientific Research and Testing Range for the development of space exploration technology, codenamed Tayga Installation (
Объект «Тайга»). The range was formally established on 2 June 1955, on Plot 10 - Zarya in
Kyzylorda Region of the
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, when the General Staff of the Soviet Army established the structure and manpower requirements of the range and assigned the formal designation of 5th Scientific Research and Testing Range (5th SRTR,
5-й Научно-исследовательский испытательный полигон (
5-й НИИП)). Space exploration was a military activity from the beginning in the Soviet Union, unlike in the United States where it was the province of the civilian
NASA. It was an integral part of the Soviet strategic ballistic missile force and at the time of the range's creation in 1955 this was the portfolio of the Deputy Minister of Defence for Special Weaponry and Rocket Technology. The first Deputy Minister, appointed in March of the same year, was then
Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin, later Chief Marshal. On 17 December 1959, Marshal Nedelin's Deputy Minister apparatus was transformed into the
Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN). As a military unit the range received the designation Military Detachment 11284 (
войсковая часть 11284). The range was initially commanded by a Colonel of the RVSN, but it had an extensive force structure of division equivalent with its own aviation (the 28th Separate Composite Aviation Squadron,
28-я отдельная смешанная авиаэскадрилья and the 6th Separate Aviation Flight,
6-е отдельное авиационное звено), a missile assembly brigade, its own railway network, security, logistics, medical units and flight measurement units as far away as the
Kamchatka Peninsula. As a clear indication of the indivisible connection between the Soviet
Strategic Missile Forces and the Soviet space program the 627th Missile Regiment (
627-й Ракетный полк) was reassigned from the
28th Guards Missile Division to the 5th SRTR on 1 August 1961. On 19 October 1961, its designation changed to the 43rd Separate Engineer Testing Detachment (
43-я отдельная инженерно-испытательная часть (
51-я ОИИЧ)). While subordinated to the Baykonur Cosmodrome the 43rd SET Detachment conducted the state evaluation program of the R-16U type ICBM and accomplished the first launch from an underground shaft on 13 July 1962. The unit also had the task to demonstrate Soviet ballistic missiles to foreign delegations. For example, the demonstration launch for the French President
Charles de Gaulle on 25 June 1966. The 43rd SET Det. was disbanded in 1968. Another operational unit transferred to the 5th SRTR was the 676th Missile Regiment (
676-й ракетный полк), Military Detachment 44083 (
в/ч 44083) of the 14th Missile Division, reassigned to the Range on 10 April 1961. (the 3rd and 4th were not yet formed at the time), which once again comes as a testament for the indivisibility of the early Soviet space troops from the RVSN. After the Baykonur Cosmodrome another space-related formation was added in 1957, when the Command and Measurement Complex for Control of Space Vehicles (
Командно-измерительный комплекс управления космическими аппаратами (
КИК УКА)) was formed initially in
Bolshevo, later transferred to
Krasnoznamensk, Moscow Oblast. Also in 1957 the construction of a missile launch range for the testing of R-7 ICBMs started near
Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, which later became the
Plesetsk Cosmodrome. In 1964, in order to bring the various space-related units and establishments together, the Soviet Ministry of Defence formed the Central Directorate for Space Assets of the Missile Troops of Strategic Purpose (
Центральное управление космических средств Ракетных войск стратегического назначения (
ЦУКОС РВСН). In 1970 the Directorate was upgraded from a Central to a
Main Directorate (Главное управление космических средств (ГУКОС РВСН).
Independent troops In 1981 the Main Directorate was taken out of the RVSN and subordinated to the Soviet General Staff with the corresponding re-designation from ГУКОС РВСН to ГУКОС ГШ ВС СССР. In 1986 the Main Directorate for Space Assets of the Ministry of Defence was reformed into the Directorate of the Chief of Space Assets and upgraded from a directorate under the General Staff, to a directorate directly subordinated to the Ministry of Defence (Управление начальника космических средств МО СССР). After the collapse of the USSR in 1992 the Directorate of the Chief of Space Assets of the Ministry of Defence was reformed into a separate combat arm (
род войск центрального подчинения) - Military Space Forces (
Военно-космические силы (
ВКС)). This is the moment when the Space Troops legally became a separate arm. Also noted should be the difference in designation. The Military Space Forces (
Военно-космические силы) were a separate arm under the Ministry of Defence. They later became part of the
Aerospace Forces (
Воздушно-космические силы). These are different entities and it is important to take this into consideration in order to avoid mixing up the two, because they share the same acronym in Russian -
ВКС (VKS).
Anti-Missile and Anti-Space Defence Troops On 30 March 1967, a Directorate of the Chief of Anti-Missile and Anti-Space Defence (
Управление командующего войсками противоракетной и противокосмической (
УКВ ПРО и ПКО)), under Lieutenant-General of Artillery Yuri Votintsev, was formed within the
Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Corps was originally formed on 22 January 1962, in Moscow as the Command of the 81st Radiotechnical Center (
Управление РТЦ-81, Military Unit 16451 (в/ч 16451)). The unit moved later to Pavshino in 1963. In 1965 it was transformed into Directorate of the Chief of Anti-Missile Defence Troops of the Moscow Air Defence District (
Управление начальника войск ПРО московского округа ПВО), Military Unit 75555 (в/ч 75555) and later in the same year moved to Solnechnogorsk. In 1972 it was reformed as the Second Directorate of the Commander of the Anti-Missile Defence Troops of the Moscow Air Defence District (
Второе управление начальника войск ПРО московского округа ПВО). In 1976 it was reformed again, transferred from the Moscow ADD directly to the High Command of the Air Defence Force (
Главное командование Войск ПВО) and correspondingly the designation changed to Second Directorate of the Commander of the Anti-Missile Defence Troops (
Второе управление начальника войск ПРО). Two years later in 1978 it relocated again to Akulovo, Moscow Oblast. It was reformed into the 9th Separate Corps for Anti-Missile Defence (
9-й Oтдельный корпус противоракетной обороны (
9-й ОК ПРО)). In 1988 the 45th Division SC was expanded into the 18th Separate Corps for Space Control (
18-й Отдельный корпус контроля космический пространства). The 18th Separate Corps was reduced back into the 45th Division by the mid-1990s. It is still active today as the
Main Centre for Reconnaissance of Situation in Space. In 1992 the Anti-Missile and Anti-Space Defence Troops (Войска противоракетной и противокосмической обороны) of the Air Defence Force were renamed to the Missile and Space Defence Troops (Войска ракетно-космической обороны). In 1995 the HQ of the 9th Separate Corps AMD relocated to Sofrino-1, Pushkin District, Moscow Oblast. On 1 October 1998, the Corps was reduced into the 9th Division for Anti-Missile Defence and transferred from the Air Defence Force to the Missile Troops of Strategic Purpose. The division is still active today. In 1997 the Missile and Space Defence Troops and the Military Space Troops were transferred to the
RVSN. In the view of some experts, the merger of the Space Troops and the Anti-Missile and Anti-Space Troops and their subordination to the RVSN was a mistake that prevented the Russian military from developing space-based capabilities. Russian public television comment on the matter: On 1 October 1998, the 3rd Separate Army for Missile Space Defence of Special Purpose (
3-я Отдельная армия РКО особого назначения (
3-я ОА РКО (
ОН)) was reduced into the 1st Division for Early Warning Against Missile Attack (
1-я Дивизию раннего предупреждения о ракетном нападении). On 1 June 2001, the Missile and Space Defence Troops and the Military Space Troops were detached from the RVSN into the separate Space Troops directly under the General Staff.
Colonel General Anatoly Perminov was appointed to lead the new Space Forces. He was succeeded by General
Vladimir Popovkin in 2004 and General
Oleg Ostapenko in 2008 until dissolution in 2011. On 1 August 2015, the Space Forces were absorbed into the newly established
Russian Aerospace Forces. ==Structure==