Russia will orbit a second new generation satellite in 2016 to keep a closer eye on ballistic missile launches anywhere in the world, the Defense Ministry said, Zvezda TV channel reported.

The EKS-1 - the first such satellite of the unified space-based ballistic missile warning system launched late last year - is currently undergoing trials in orbit by the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces.

The new generation satellites will ensure much quicker identification of ballistic missile launches by detecting their engines' exhaust plume in infrared light.

The first early warning ground-based station for the new network has been built in the Altay region and it has passed state trials.

More such stations will be built also in the Leningrad, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad and Krasnodar regions.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced in October last year that Russia had started the development of a new unified network to detect ballistic missile launches, which would replace the Soviet-made ballistic missile early warning systems and feature new-generation satellites, new ground-based space monitoring stations and advanced computer networks.

earlier report Russian Missile Warning System Can Detect Mass Launch of Ballistic Missiles
The missile early warning system can detect any launch from any direction, said Chief of Staff of the Main Centre for Missile Warning of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Colonel Viktor Tymoshenko.

Russia's missile warning system is able to work on at least a dozen ballistic targets.

"The current early warning system can detect any launches from any direction from south or north or any other. It is impossible to commit any act of aggression without us finding out," Tymoshenko said in an interview with radio RSN.

According to him, the early warning system is constructed in such a way that it is 'multi-channeled' and can function on mass launches of dozens of ballistic missiles.

The Russian Aerospace Forces are engaged in the centralized management of the air forces, air defense and missile defense, operation and supervision of spacecraft of the Russian orbital grouping. It is also responsible for the space control and early warning of missile attacks.

Source: Sputnik News