Jupiter (factory)

{{Short description|Abandoned factory in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine}} {{Infobox company | name = Jupiter | logo = | image = Pripjat 2019 65.jpg | image_size = 250px | image_alt = | image_caption = The factory interior in June 2019 | caption = | type = | genre = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = 1980 | founder = | defunct = 1996 | fate = | location_city = Pripyat, Kyiv Oblast | location_country = Ukraine | location = | locations = | area_served = | key_people = | industry = Military | products = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = | intl = }} [[File:Pripyat-Jupiter.png|thumb|right|250px|OSM locator map of the Jupiter Factory within the city of Pripyat]] thumb|The Kyiv's "Mayak" logo The '''Jupiter Factory''' ({{langx|uk|завод Юпітер}}; {{langx|ru|завод Юпитер}}, {{transliteration|uk|zavod Yupiter}}) is an abandoned factory located on the outskirts of Pripyat, in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in northern Ukraine. Officially a manufacturer of cassette recorders and components for home appliances, the factory secretly produced semiconductor components for the military, and had test workshops for robotic systems.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-05-17|title=Chernobyl 35 years later - Jupiter Factory Pripyat|url=https://www.chernobyl.one/jupiter-factory-pripyat/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Chernobyl 35 years later|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==History== As many university-educated people lived in Pripyat, the Soviet Union decided to build a factory in the outskirts to employ some of those people. This factory became the second employer in the area after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The factory opened in 1980 and employed around 3,500 people. Officially, Jupiter was built as a branch of the Kyiv factory, ''Mayak'' (Lighthouse),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stalker.uz/novosti/pripyat-zavod-yupiter-novye-fakty.html|title=Припять. Завод "Юпитер" (НОВЫЕ ФАКТЫ)!|access-date=2016-06-17|archive-date=2014-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222220329/http://stalker.uz/novosti/pripyat-zavod-yupiter-novye-fakty.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://stalker-tour.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1238 |title=завод "Юпитер" |access-date=2016-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222101522/http://stalker-tour.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1238 |archive-date=2014-02-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> where they made cassette recorders and electronic components for home appliances.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zalaza.net/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=10599|title=zalaza.net • Просмотр темы - Завод "Юпитер"[Припять]|website=zalaza.net|access-date=2016-06-17|archive-date=2016-08-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821175655/https://zalaza.net/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=10599|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20201014184000/http://ww5.neqo.be/]</ref>

But the reality was somewhat different. Production of tape and components for appliances was a smokescreen for Jupiter's secret production of semiconductor components for the military industry. New materials were tested in laboratories and workshops and the robotics department developed various robotic systems.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stalker.uz/galereya/nemnogo-tainy-zavoda-yupiterpripyat-zavod-yupiter-foto.html|title=Немного тайны завода "Юпитер", (Припять. Завод "Юпитер", фото)|access-date=2016-06-17|archive-date=2014-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024070903/http://stalker.uz/galereya/nemnogo-tainy-zavoda-yupiterpripyat-zavod-yupiter-foto.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Some time after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 caused the abandonment of Pripyat,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chernobylgallery.com/galleries/jupiter-factory/|title=Jupiter Factory Pripyat|date=September 26, 2011}}</ref> some employees returned to Jupiter and the factory became a radiological laboratory for testing of various decontamination techniques and developing dosimetric instruments. The factory continued operations until 1996;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chernobylwel.com/cz/city.html |title=Chernobyl Welcome |access-date=2016-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811122420/http://www.chernobylwel.com/cz/city.html |archive-date=2013-08-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> today it is abandoned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://englishrussia.com/2014/02/19/the-huge-factory-of-pripyat/|title=The Huge Factory of Pripyat|date=February 19, 2014|website=English Russia}}</ref> The level of radioactive contamination in some places remains several times higher than the safe level, especially in the basement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chernobylproject.blogspot.com/2011/06/jupiter-revisited-radiation-and.html|title=The Chernobyl Project: Jupiter revisited; Radiation and Contamination. About risks and precautions|first=K.|last=Lindblom|date=June 14, 2011}}</ref>

==Cultural references== * The Jupiter Factory appears prominently in ''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat'' as the location of one of the Mi-24 crash sites the protagonist, SBU Major Alexander Degtyarev, is sent in to locate and investigate in the aftermath of a failed military operation. * The Jupiter Factory appears in the music video of the song "Marooned" by Pink Floyd.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brain-damage.co.uk/archive/pink-floyd-release-new-marooned-video-.and-tdb20-count.html|title=Pink Floyd news :: Brain Damage - Pink Floyd release new Marooned video...and TDB20 countdown!|website=www.brain-damage.co.uk}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category-inline}} *[http://chernobylgallery.com/galleries/jupiter-factory/ The Jupiter Factory on chernobylgallery.com]

Category:Buildings and structures in Pripyat Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of Ukraine Category:Arms industry Category:Chernobyl exclusion zone Category:1980 establishments in Ukraine Category:Industrial buildings completed in 1980 Category:Manufacturing companies of the Soviet Union Category:Defence companies of the Soviet Union Category:Defence companies of Ukraine