</s> ▁E KS ▁( ▁meaning ▁Un ified ▁Space ▁System ) ▁K up ol ▁( ▁meaning ▁D ome ) ▁is ▁a ▁developing ▁programme ▁of ▁Russian ▁early ▁warning ▁sat ell ites ▁as ▁a ▁replacement ▁for ▁the ▁US - K MO ▁and ▁US - K ▁sat ell ites ▁of ▁the ▁O ko ▁programme . ▁These ▁sat ell ites ▁identify ▁ball istic ▁miss ile ▁launch es ▁from ▁outer ▁space ▁and ▁complement ▁early ▁warning ▁rad ars ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Vor one zh . ▁This ▁gives ▁advance ▁notice ▁of ▁a ▁nuclear ▁attack ▁and ▁would ▁provide ▁information ▁to ▁the ▁A - 1 3 5 ▁miss ile ▁defence ▁system ▁which ▁protect s ▁Moscow , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁other ▁Russian ▁miss ile ▁defense ▁and ▁counter att ack ▁resources . ▁Six ▁sat ell ites ▁are ▁planned ▁to ▁be ▁initially ▁orb ited . ▁The ▁first ▁of ▁them ▁was ▁launched ▁on ▁November ▁ 1 7 , ▁ 2 0 1 5 ▁and ▁ ▁there ▁are ▁three ▁in ▁service . ▁ ▁Background ▁E KS ▁is ▁designed ▁as ▁a ▁replacement ▁for ▁the ▁current ▁system ▁of ▁early ▁warning ▁sat ell ites ▁called ▁O ko , ▁which ▁had ▁its ▁first ▁launch ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 2 ▁ ▁and ▁was ▁described ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 5 ▁as ▁" h op eless ly ▁out dated ". ▁O ko ▁has ▁two ▁types ▁of ▁sat ell ites : ▁US - K MO ▁are ▁in ▁ge os ynchronous ▁or bits ▁and ▁have ▁an ▁inf ra red ▁teles cope ▁to ▁identify ▁ball istic ▁miss ile ▁launch es . ▁US - K ▁are ▁in