On December 18, Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov confirmed that Russia is modernizing its orbital missile early warning system. The new satellites, designated Kupol, began replacing Russia’s Oko-1 satellites in 2015. As of 2019, the Kremlin has launched three Kupol satellites into orbit. The Oko-1 constellation comprised eight satellites; Russia plans to launch nine Kupol units in total by 2022.