Become an active SpaceWatch.Global supporter 2023 Join here NOW
Russia Announces Sovereign’s Eye Remote Sensing Constellation
Sovereign’s Eye – Credits: sputniknews.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 / José Furtado
Roscosmos head, Dmitry Rogozin has announced that Russia will construct Sovereign’s Eye (‘Gosudarevo Oko’), a new constellation of remote sensing satellites that will enable them to identify any changes that are happening on Earth. Rogozin highlighted that the new initiative will enable Russian to strengthen its Digital Economy programme, which aims to improve the way in which educational institutions, cybersecurity, research and IT infrastructure, operates.
The goal of the satellite network is to improve monitoring for civilian agencies such as the country’s Ministry of Emergency Situations which deals with emergency response and also agriculture and energy production.
Sovereign’s Eye will also facilitate the monitoring of infrastructure and buildings, flagging up any changes. Using digital monitoring and various angles, this gives a detailed picture of the state of whatever is being monitored.
According to the UN, Russia launched over 24 satellites in 2018.
In December, two Canopus-V remote sensing satellites were lofted from Vostochny Cosmodrome. Sources say that by 2020, the number of Russia’s remote sensing satellites will rise to 15 at the minimum. Included in this system are six Canopus-V satellites which feature a multi-spectral camera, are very powerful and can deliver very detailed information. Jointly developed by the Russian Scientific Research Institute of Electromechanics and Surrey Satellite Technology, the Canopus-V satellites use GPS and GLONASS for navigation and operate in a sun-synchronous orbit, 510km above the Earth.
Virgin Orbit has paused its operations and furloughed its staff for at least a week in the event of recent financial challenges. According to a statement the Company released on March 15, Virgin Orbit said it was instituting an “operational pause” across the company, which includes furloughing staff. A Company spokesperson stated that the launch vehicle company is initiating a company-wide operational pause, effective March 16, 2023, and anticipates providing an update on go-forward operations in the coming weeks.