The Ukrainian military has again struck a Russian space communications center in annexed Crimea, underscoring the strategic importance of the facility in the conflict between the two countries. Forbes analyzed the incident, in which the Ukrainian army claimed responsibility for the attack on the space base, which caused a significant resonance in the international community.
The authors of the article note that the NIP-16 facility was built in Yevpatoria as part of the Soviet space program. It was designed to communicate with lunar and Martian probes in the 1960s and 1970s, but can also communicate with modern Lotus-S spy satellites and GLONASS navigation satellites, which are an analogue of the American GPS satellites.
That is why Ukraine is trying to destroy this facility, writes Forbes, noting that “twice since December, Ukrainian troops have fired missiles at the priceless space base.”.
This object is undoubtedly important from a scientific point of view, and the impact of damage to its complex scientific instruments is difficult to overestimate. However, Forbes notes that NIP-16 is also a legitimate military target, as its transmitters can send signals to and receive from surveillance, communication, and navigation satellites, including the Liana and GLONASS spacecraft.
Journalists note that NIP-16 is a difficult target. “Its radio dishes, generators, and controls are scattered across two large campuses. The most visible equipment — the old dishes — is of sturdy construction.
According to Russian cosmonautics historian Anatoly Zak, the builders of NIP-16 assembled equipment from old railway bridges, the hulls of decommissioned submarines, and a rotating mechanism from a decommissioned battleship,” the article says.
Thus, the authors of the publication believe, Ukraine may need many more strikes to cause serious damage to the facility, not to mention the destruction of the base.
