MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Roscosmos said its two companies, the Russian Space Systems and NPO Lavochkin, will team up to develop a constellation of earth observation satellites.
Called Avtograf, the system will include 72 Pixel-VR satellites, the state corporation said in a statement.
"The new constellation of satellites, which is being built by Russian Space Systems holding company in collaboration with NPO Lavochkin, will be the basis for an advanced space system of Earth remote sensing called Avtograf. Small-sized Pixel-VR spacecraft will fill the niche of monitoring infrastructure objects in ultra-high spatial resolution," the statement said.
According to Ilshat Gubaidullin, the system's chief designer, the first two satellites will be built on NPO Lavochkin's Karat-200 platform, which has proven its reliability, while the rest will be built on a new platform with a focus on mass production.
"Subsequently, the constellation will be increased to 14 Pixel-VRs in seven planes, with two satellites in each. This system architecture will ensure maximum efficiency of area imaging of up to 240,000 square kilometers per day or imaging of one area two times per day," Gubaidullin said.
He added that the constellation will be ultimately expanded to 72 satellites.
Pixel-VR
Last year, Roscosmos said work was underway to build a small remote sensing satellite, Pixel-VR, with a spatial resolution of 50 cm. The state corporation said at the time that the first such device would be produced by 2025 and launched in 2026. The satellites will conduct highly detailed observation of the Earth's surface in the visible and near-infrared range from a sun-synchronous orbit at the altitude of 500-700 kilometers. The dimensions of one satellite are 1 x 1 x 1.9 meters.