Kurs (docking navigation system)

The radio-based control system was developed by the Research Institute of Precision Instruments in Moscow before 1985[1][2] and initially manufactured by the Kiev Radio Factory.

The main reason for this change was that Mir was to be a much bigger space station than the older Salyut, so the propellant consumption would have been excessive for each docking.

The variation in strength between the antennas allows the system to compute relative position, attitude, and approach rate.

The system is designed for automatic rendezvous and docking, but in an emergency cosmonauts may take command of the vehicle, either locally or from the International Space Station.

After the collision and recovery, the next Progress ship had a failure of Kurs, and was docked successfully using the same TORU system.