4MV
Mars-6, a 3MP version of the 4MV bus. | |||
| Manufacturer | NPO Lavochkin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Soviet Union | ||
| Operator | Soviet Space Program | ||
| Specifications | |||
| Power | 2 Solar arrays (Mars, Venera) 4 Solar arrays (Astron, Granat) | ||
| Production | |||
| Operational | 1971-1989
Engines: | ||
| |||
The 4MV planetary probe (short for 4th-generation Mars-Venus probe) is a designation for a common design used for Soviet unmanned probes to Mars and Venus.
It was an incremental improvement of earlier 3MV probes and was used for Mars missions 2 to 7 and Venera missions 9 to 16. Different versions of the bus exist, for example 4V-1, 4V-M and 4V-2. The same base design was also used for earth-orbiting space observatories.