SICH-1M Spacecraft (removed from service)

Tasks to be Fulfilled
According to the instrument payload installed on the SICH-1M, the researches of both water surface (ice, hummock, iceberg thickness measurement, river flood data acquisition), and land surface (assessment of crop maturation, soil erosion, drought-affected region area, ecological and man-made disaster scope and extent) may be undertaken.

Special features
The spacecraft’s instrument package offers improved characteristics of the onboard scanners and side-looking radar, and the availability of the MTVZA-OK multi-spectral scanner and the VARIANT science equipment complex as parts of remote sensing facilities.

The SICH-1M instrument payload will allow observation of the Earth from space in optical, IR, and microwave regions. The RLSBO microwave side-looking radar and the RM-08 scanning radiometer extend the capabilities of observations under cloudiness and in the nighttime. The optical-microwave scanner provides the Earth’s temperature and humidity sounding and the VARIANT science equipment complex measures the parameters of the Earth’ electric and magnetic fields.

Main Characteristics
Launch date — 24 December 2004
Spacecraft mass — 2226kg
Mass of on-board special-purpose payload — 650kg
Power of power-generating system — during a session — 1250W; daily average — 390/200W.
Spacecraft orientation — three-axis, orientation accuracy by roll — no worse than 1°, by yaw — no worse than 2°, by pitch — no worse than 3°. Angular velocity by each axis — no more than 0.005 deg/sec, error of spacecraft axes position indication — no more than 40′ (3σ)
Launcher — «Tsiklon-3»
Spaceport — «Plesetsk»
Active operation time — 3 years.
Prime developer — State Design Bureau «Yuzhnoye», Dnepropetrovsk

Since the SICH-1M was placed into undesired orbit resulted in unfeasibility of experimental operation and scientific and application programs, according to the State Commission decision dated 8 August 2005, the spacecraft ceased work.