page_title: Polyus (spacecraft)
hierarchical_section_title: Polyus (spacecraft)
caption_attribution_description: Polyus cutaway. Displays the FGB-based service/propulsion module. Note that, like other FGBbased vehicles, it launched aft end up. This places Polyus’ front end at the bottom. The streamlined projections on Polyus’ sides were dispensers for experimental tracking targets.
context_page_description: The Polyus spacecraft, also known as Polus, Skif-DM, GRAU index 17F19DM, was a prototype orbital weapons platform designed to destroy Strategic Defense Initiative satellites with a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser. It had a Functional Cargo Block derived from a TKS spacecraft to control its orbit and it could launch test targets to demonstrate the fire control system.
context_section_description: The Polyus spacecraft (Russian: Полюс, pole), also known as Polus, Skif-DM, GRAU index 17F19DM, was a prototype orbital weapons platform designed to destroy Strategic Defense Initiative satellites with a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser. It had a Functional Cargo Block derived from a TKS spacecraft to control its orbit and it could launch test targets to demonstrate the fire control system.
caption: Cutaway drawing of the Polyus spacecraft
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