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.

Russian Missile Warning System Can Detect Mass Launch of Ballistic Missiles.

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.