15th Special Purpose Aerospace Army
Designation and Mission
The 15th Army of the Aerospace Forces (Special Purpose) is a formation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation responsible for military space operations, including satellite control, space situational awareness, and missile attack early warning. It was established on 1 December 2011 during the creation of the Aerospace Defense Forces as the 15th Aerospace Defense Army (Special Purpose) and was transferred into the newly formed Aerospace Forces (VKS) on 1 August 2015. Its core tasks encompass telemetry, tracking and command of military satellites, surveillance and cataloging of objects in Earth orbit, and the collection and processing of data from ground- and space-based ballistic missile early warning sensors.
Headquarters and Command Authority
Public reporting places the army headquarters in Moscow, with principal garrisons and command facilities distributed across the Moscow Oblast. The formation is subordinate to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) and interfaces with the National Defense Management Center for strategic-level command and control. Operational control of specialized centers for satellite control, space surveillance, and early warning is exercised through dedicated main centers under the army’s structure.
Leadership Status
Open sources have identified Lieutenant General Anatoly Nestechuk as a commander of the 15th Army of the Aerospace Forces (Special Purpose) in the 2020–2023 period. No authoritative public source could be found confirming a Lieutenant General Andrey(l) Vyshinsky as the army’s commander. Leadership appointments may change, but details not officially published by the Russian Ministry of Defense or other authoritative releases cannot be verified here.
Organizational Structure and Principal Centers
The army’s structure is centered on three principal organizations: the 153rd Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Center in Krasnoznamensk (satellite telemetry, tracking, and command), the 820th Main Missile Attack Warning Center in Solnechnogorsk (processing data from ground and space early warning assets), and the 821st Main Space Surveillance Center, commonly associated with the Noginsk-9 garrison (space situational awareness and orbital cataloging). These centers manage networks of geographically dispersed sensors and control nodes across the Russian Federation and selected external locations used under bilateral arrangements.
Headquarters-Adjacent Sites in the Moscow Region
Key installations supporting the army’s mission in and around Moscow include the Krasnoznamensk complex (home to the Titov control center for military satellite operations), Solnechnogorsk facilities (central to the missile attack warning mission), and the Noginsk-9 site (the main hub for space surveillance data processing and orbital catalog management). Additionally, the Kurilovo site near Serpukhov, widely known by the historical designation Serpukhov-15, functions as a critical ground node for the space-based early warning segment.
Satellite Control and TT&C Infrastructure
The Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Center in Krasnoznamensk operates the military segment of Russia’s command-measurement network supporting telemetry, tracking, and command of Ministry of Defense satellites. This includes communications, relay, early warning, navigation-support, and intelligence-support spacecraft. Control is executed via a distributed network of ground stations and command-measurement complexes across Russia, enabling continuous coverage of orbital passes and geostationary assets. Specific technical parameters, station coordinates, frequencies, and resource allocations are not publicly disclosed.
Space Surveillance Assets and Sites
The 821st Main Space Surveillance Center oversees sensors that monitor near-Earth space and maintain a catalog of resident space objects. Principal sites include the Okno optical-electronic complex near Nurek, Tajikistan, which observes objects at medium and high Earth orbits including geostationary, and the Krona complex near Zelenchukskaya in Karachay-Cherkessia, which integrates radar and optical channels for detection and characterization of low-orbiting objects. A related radar complex widely referred to as Krona-N in Primorsky Krai supplements coverage in the Far East. These assets feed observation data to the main center in the Moscow region for correlation, tracking, characterization, and dissemination.
Missile Attack Early Warning Infrastructure
The 820th Main Center in Solnechnogorsk fuses inputs from the ground-based Voronezh family of early warning radars and from space-based infrared satellites to detect and characterize ballistic missile launches. Publicly identified Voronezh radar sites include installations in Leningrad Oblast (Lekhtusi), Kaliningrad Oblast (near Pionersky), Krasnodar Krai (Armavir), Altai Krai (Barnaul area), Krasnoyarsk Krai (Yeniseysk area), Irkutsk Oblast (Mishelevka area), and Orenburg Oblast (Orsk area). Legacy Soviet-era radars, such as Dnepr (Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast) and Daryal (Pechora, Komi Republic), have supplemented coverage. Exact operational status and performance parameters of individual radars are not fully disclosed in open sources.
Space-Based Early Warning Segment
Russia’s space-based early warning system, often referred to as EKS (Kupol) with 14F142 Tundra satellites, began deployment in 2015 to replace the Oko/Oko-1 systems. The constellation provides infrared detection of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile boosters and supports launch warning and attack assessment. Ground support and mission control functions are provided through facilities including the Kurilovo site (Serpukhov-15) and the 820th Main Center. The exact number of on-orbit operational satellites at any point in time and detailed orbital configurations are not officially published.
Integration with Air and Missile Defense and National C2
Data from the 15th Army’s space surveillance and early warning systems are integrated with broader national air and missile defense and strategic command-and-control frameworks. While the Moscow missile defense complex, including the Don-2N radar and associated interceptors, is part of a separate formation (the 1st Air and Missile Defense Army, Special Purpose), information exchange occurs to support tracking, identification, and threat assessment. Strategic-level coordination is conducted via the National Defense Management Center in Moscow.
Recent Modernization and Trends (2015–2024)
Major modernization lines include the deployment and expansion of the Voronezh radar network to replace reliance on out-of-country legacy radars, incremental deployment of EKS Tundra satellites since 2015 to restore and enhance space-based launch detection, and upgrades to space surveillance assets such as improvements reported at the Okno complex (often referenced as Okno-M). The Titov center has continued to support an expanding portfolio of military satellites, including modern communications and relay platforms, with an emphasis on resilient TT&C connectivity. Specific timelines, technical specifications, and capacity figures remain largely undisclosed.
Information Gaps and Classification Caveats
Precise locations of command posts, detailed order of battle, staffing levels, technical performance data, operating procedures, communications parameters, and real-time disposition of sensors and satellites are not publicly released and are likely classified. Open-source information identifies principal sites and general roles, but definitive confirmation of current command appointments, internal unit numbering, and live operational status of individual sensors should be treated with caution unless corroborated by official publications.