DUSHANBE, June 2, 2014, Asia-Plus – Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports that Russia is making preparations for launching the Okno satellite-tracking station in Tajikistan at its full capacity.

“The national test of the station will be carried out during summer period and after that the complex will be put on combat duty,” representative of the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces, Colonel Aleksey Zolotukhin, was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

According to him, all elements of the station will now operate in full capacity that will allow extending the orbit range considerably and detecting objectives, including the reconnaissance ones, at lower altitudes.

Okno (Window) is a Russian space surveillance station located in Norak  in Tajikistan.  It is run by the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces and is part of the Center for Outer Space Monitoring.  It is located 2,216 meters above sea level in the Sanglok mountains, an area with clear night skies.

The facility consists of a number of telescopes in domes and is similar to the US GEODSS system. It is designed for the detection and analysis of space objects such as satellites.

The Okno facility was reportedly started by the Soviet Union in 1979 using thousands of military unit No. 14464 “Construction Forces” draftees.  All construction stopped in 1992 due to the civil war in Tajikistan and the center started test operations in 1999 and combat duty in 2004.  Ownership of the complex was transferred from Tajikistan to Russia in 2004 in return for the writing off of $242 million USD of Tajikistan''s $299 million USD debt to Russia.