Kurs (Ukrainian and Russian: Курс, translit. Course) is a radio telemetry system used by the Soviet and later Russian space program.
Kurs was developed by the Research Institute of Precision Instruments (NII TP, Russian: НИИ Точных Приборов) before 1985 and manufactured by the Kiev Radio Factory (Ukrainian: Київський Радіозавод).
Kurs was the successor to the Igla system and today provides navigation beaconing for Russian space vehicles including the Soyuz spacecraft and Progress spacecraft. Kurs provided the automated docking system for all Russian spacecraft that docked with the Mir space station. When used for docking, the Soyuz or Progress vehicle broadcasts radar pulses from multiple antennas. 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 dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kurs system became the property of Ukraine; its manufacturer became a competitor in the space launch business with the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA). Due to hard-currency problems, Kiev also raised the price of the Kurs system. Consequently, RKA sought to phase out its use in its vehicles. A Test using the Russian TORU backup system to reduce reliance on Kurs, was responsible for the collision between Mir and Progress M-34 and the damage to the Spektr module, nearly causing Mir to be abandoned. After the collision and recovery, the next Progress ship had a failure of Kurs, and was docked successfully using the same TORU system.