Monitor-E was the first Russian satellite of a fleet of newly designed, small Earth observing satellites. It was launched 26 August 2005 at 18:34 UTC from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, and placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit of 524 by 544 km (326 by 338 mi).

Monitor-E
Mission typeEarth observation
OperatorNTs OMZ[1]
COSPAR ID2005-032A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.28822
Websiteeng.ntsomz.ru/ks_dzz/satellites/monitor_E
Mission durationPlanned: 5 years
Final: 2 years, 4 months, 25 days
Spacecraft properties
BusYakhta[2]
ManufacturerKhrunichev[2]
Launch mass750 kg (1,650 lb)[2]
Payload mass270 kg (600 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date26 August 2005, 18:34 (2005-08-26UTC18:34) UTC[3]
RocketRokot/Briz-KM[2]
Launch sitePlesetsk Site 133/3[2]
ContractorEurockot Launch Services
End of mission
DisposalDecommissioned
Deactivated21 January 2008 (2008-01-22)[1][4]
Decay date22 September 2020
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeSun-synchronous
Eccentricity0.00145
Perigee altitude524 km (326 mi)
Apogee altitude544 km (338 mi)
Inclination97.6°
Period95.3 minutes
Epoch26 August 2005, 14:34 UTC[3]

The satellite was decommissioned 21 January 2008 and decayed from orbit 22 September 2020.

Design

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Monitor-E had a set of remote sensing devices. They were intended to make maps of the Earth's surface to be used for ecological monitoring and charting geological features. It was built by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center.

A mock-up of Monitor-E (COSPAR 2003-031A) was launched 30 June 2003 aboard Rokot rocket.

Specifications

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Sensors

  • 8 m panchromatic (0.51-0.85 μm), swath width of not less 90 km
  • 20–40 m multispectral (0.54-0.59/0.63-0.68/0.79-0.90 μm), swath width of not less than 160 km

Onboard storage

  • 2 × 200 gigabit capacity

Data communications

  • Transmission speeds of 15.36/61.44/122.88 Mbit/s

Orbit

  • Altitude: 524 × 544 km (326 × 338 mi) - 97.6 degree Sun-synchronous inclination

Spacecraft

  • Planned active life: 5 years
  • Orientation precision: 0.1 degrees
  • Stabilization precision: 0.001 degrees/s
  • Average daily power consumption: 450 W
  • Mass: 750 kg (1,650 lb)

Communications problems

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After launch, communications with Monitor-E was initially difficult to establish, but a few hours later it was successfully contacted and control was established.[5] On 19 October 2005 new problems developed and no communication was possible since then. Later on communications were restored and photographs from both cameras were published on 30 November 2005.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Monitor-E Spacecraft". NTs OMZ. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Monitor-E". Gunter's Space Page. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Monitor-E: Orbit". National Space Science Data Center. NASA. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  4. ^ Allaby, Michael, ed. (2013). A Dictionary of Geology and Earth Sciences (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-19-965306-5.
  5. ^ Malik, Tariq (27 August 2005). "Russia Regains Control of Newly Launched Monitor-E Satellite". Space.com. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
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