Outer space

How Gorbachev Destroyed the USSR's Military Space Program, & What It Cost Russia

The Soviet Union began working on maneuverable space-based systems for military use in the 1960s, starting with the idea of a satellite designed to kill enemy military satellites. The USSR sent its first experimental maneuverable satellite, the Polet-1, into orbit in 1963. Five years later, on November 1, 1968, Soviet engineers achieved the first successful interception of a dummy satellite.

Between 1973 and 1976, under the secretive Almaz program, the Soviet Union launched three manned dual-use civilian and military reconnaissance stations into orbit. Meanwhile, engineers carried out dozens of tests of continually improving anti-satellite systems. 

In massive strategic drills carried out between June and September 1982, and later dubbed by NATO as the 'Seven-hour nuclear war', the Soviet Union and its allies conducted exercises that included the launch of ground- and sea-based ballistic missiles, testing of anti-missile missiles, and exercises involving military satellites, including the 5V91T Uran interceptor satellite.