MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. The Aist-2D remote sensing satellite has completed its mission in orbit after staying in operation for almost 8 years, Roscosmos said.

"Space assistant Aist-2D: Mission Complete. The satellite worked in orbit for almost 8 years - exceeding the expected lifecycle more than twice!" Roscosmos said.

Aist-29, launched in 2016, has scanned more than 93 million square kilometers. It monitored ruined infrastructure, spotted illegal mines and waste dumps, and tracked fires, eruptions and floods.

"Now RSC Progress specialists are pushing ahead with the project of the stereoscopic Earth remote sensing space system (two smaller Aist-2T sats) to survey the Earth's surface," Roscosmos added.

That Aist-2D will cease to exist this spring was announced last November by Ivan Tkachenko, the director of the Institute of Aviation and Rocket and Space Technology at the S. P. Korolev Samara National Research University.

The Aist-2D research and education satellite, developed by the Samara University and Progress Rocket Space Center, was put into orbit in April 2016 as part of the first-ever launch from the Vostochny spaceport. It was designed for the remote sensing of the Earth in the visible range, as well as for research experiments. It helped obtain panchromatic images of the Earth's surface with a spatial resolution of up to 1.5 meters. The mass of the satellite’s platform is about 250 kg. In combination with the special and research equipment, the satellite has a mass of more than 530 kg.