Geoton-L1 equipment of the Resurs-P satellite, photo by Vitaly V. Kuzmin / Wikimedia Commons
Grouping
Resurs-P №3, photo by RCC "Progress" The
flagships of the Russian civil satellite constellation of Earth remote sensing (ERS) are the devices "Resurs-P". They have the largest mass, 6275 kg, of which 2275 are photographic equipment. The satellite boasts a resolution of around one meter in black and white (panchromatic) mode and 2-3 meters in multispectral (color) mode. At the time of the launch of the first spacecraft, the width of the strip of the earth's surface taken with the maximum resolution was record - 38 km. Also on board there are cameras of high (12/24 m) and medium (60/120 m) resolution, as well as a hyperspectral camera with 96 channels, which allows obtaining specific data such as chlorophyll content in leaves, soil condition or the degree of maturity of cereals, which are not available with multispectral cameras. ...
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The first "Resurs-P" went into orbit on June 25, 2013 and is still operating, exceeding the warranty period of five years. The second device was less fortunate - having gone into space in December 2014, it was finally struck out of the group in November 2018. But the most dramatic story happened to the third satellite. After the successful launch into orbit on March 13, 2016, it turned out that one of the two solar panels had not fully opened. Investigation showed that the panel began to open earlier than necessary and caught on the structure of the satellite. Since the area of the panels is calculated with a margin due to degradation, this did not affect the performance of the device. And in September it turned out that the panel opened by itself. Alas, the problems did not end there - in February 2017, the transmitters of the high-speed radio link failed.It would seem that the satellite is over, but in May 2020, an almost engineering miracle happened - Resource-P No. 3 was reprogrammed and returned to work bypassing the failed sections. The satellite constellation is obviously worth replenishing, and two more vehicles are on the way, which should go into space in 2021.
Two satellites "Kanopus-V" on a dispenser, photo VNIIEM
If "Resurs-P" can be called a heavy multifunctional harvester, then "Kanopus" are lighter, simpler and have worse characteristics, but due to their large number they shoot a large area. The satellite has a mass of 350 kg of which 117 is occupied by a platform. There are only two cameras - panchromatic and multispectral, and the spatial resolution is 2.5 meters in panchromatic and 12 meters in multispectral mode. The width of the strip of the surveyed surface is also lower - 20-23 km. But until recently, six vehicles operated in orbit, each of which photographed an area comparable to Resurs-P. Also, on one of the devices, "Kanopus-V-IK", there is infrared equipment, which is capable of detecting a fire of 5x5 meters on a strip 2000 km wide.
The capabilities of "Kanopus-V", infographics of the Scientific Center for Operational Monitoring of the Earth
"Kanopus-V" No. 1 were put into orbit on July 22, 2012, where it worked until early July 2020, which, in general, is very worthy. Kanopus-V-IK flew second in July 2017, and then satellites were launched from Vostochny two at a time. The third and fourth satellites flew in February 2018, and the fifth and sixth in December 2018. No new launches are expected in the near future.
Also "Meteora-M" belongs to the remote sensing satellites, these are meteorological satellites with a resolution of 60 meters per point. Well, it should be noted that the Electro-L satellites still delight us with beautiful photographs, but they see the entire hemisphere from a geostationary orbit with a resolution of 1-4 kilometers per point.
results
You've probably seen this photo, but you can't do without it. Consequences of the explosion in Beirut, shooting "Resource-P".
High resolution photo
Marine parade in St. Petersburg on July 26, cropped photo. Please note that the mooring barrels with a diameter of 1-3 meters are perfectly distinguishable, and even contrasting cables are visible, stretching towards them.
Original high resolution photo
Fuel spill in Norilsk, June.
Photo in high resolution
And here is an example of multispectral equipment. In the region of a wavelength of 0.55 microns, the transparency of the atmosphere is very sensitive to pollution, and the shutdown of industrial enterprises in Wuhan due to quarantine is clearly visible. Photo of the satellite "Meteor-M" No. 2-2.
A recent emergency is the oil spill from the tanker Wakashio near the island of Mauritius. Filming of "Canopus-V".
Photo in high resolution
Fires in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), photographs taken by "Kanopus-V".
Photo in high resolution
Conclusion
Hardware isn't everything. I am glad that Roskosmos is able to respond to news stories - decisions are promptly made to photograph current events in parallel with the existing work plan, photographs are quickly transmitted to the ground, processed and posted on the Web in order to get on the news agenda. But when you see a fresh satellite photograph of an event, think also about the imperceptible daily work of accounting for natural resources, agriculture, cartography, ice monitoring and other things that remote sensing satellites do.