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RESURS-DK1: The 8th Year in Orbit!. / June 17, 2013 /

The RESURS-DK1 spacecraft designed for very high resolution Earth observation was developed by the Russian space company TsSKB-Progress and launched on 15 June 2006.

The main systems and equipment packages were created by the leading Russian rocket enterprises such as TsSKB-Progress, JSC «Krasnogorsky Zavod», NPP OPTEKS, and JSC NII TP. The spacecraft was also equipped by two scientific instrument complexes: PAMELA magnetic spectrometer developed and built by the Russian and Italian scientists and ARINA spectrometer developed and built by National Research Nuclear University „MEPhI“.

The NTs OMZ of JSC Russian Space Systems is an Operator of RESURS-DK1. During the spacecraft operating period, more than 2540 work programs for target and scientific equipment control were generated by the NTs OMZ workers. The RESURS-DK1 spacecraft compassed the Earth more than 36300 times during its 7-year orbital life. More than 11000 data communication sessions of more than 850 hours were made from the spacecraft, the black-and-white imagery of the earth’s surface of more than 74 million squire kilometers in area with resolution of less than 2 meters was taken, and a huge volume of scientific data was acquired. The data is being acquired online as before and in spite of the reduced 3-5m resolution, is needed by customers.
On the occasion of such a remarkable date — the beginning of the 8th year in orbit, the RESURS-DK1 downlinked the actual images taken in azimuth imaging mode.

The high-resolution data on the earth’s surface from the spacecraft is used for the widest range of socio-economic problems of the Russian departments and organizations and to the benefits of commercial customers as well.

The RESURS-DK1 data was used by the EMERCOM rescuers in eliminating the consequences of natural and man-made disasters (e.g. monitoring of the Zeya River, Amur Region flood development and impact, monitoring of forest fire development and aftermath in Ryazan Region, Khabarovsk Territory, Yakutia, and monitoring of the Berezniki potash mine, Perm Territory etc.).
In the Roskartographiya the maps of the Russian Federal territories are updated using the images acquired. The mapping of territories, in particular, the Bogashevo Airport (Tomsk) is being continued.
The authorities of the Moscow Region made wide use of the materials to monitor the state of active domestic waste sites and to detect unauthorized dumps.
The Rosleskhoz uses the data to monitor illegal deforestation, particularly in Far East, and for purpose of state forest inventory.
The Mintrans of Russia uses the images to monitor the construction and operation of highways and railroads, bridges, and the Russian airdrome network state and other objects.
The RESURS-DK1 data was used in the international projects within the framework of the EU-Russia Dialogue on Space:
— ZAPAS (Assessment and Monitoring of Forest Resources in the framework of the EU-Russia Dialogue on Space), 2011 – 2014;
— MAIRES ((Monitoring Arctic land and sea Ice using Russian and European Satellites), 2011 – 2014;
— DAMOCLES (Developing Arctic modeling and observing capabilities for long-term environmental studies), 2006 – 2009;
— IRIS (Irkutsk Regional Information System for Environmental Protection), 2006 – 2008.

During the 7-year operation, the PAMELA scientific equipment installed on board the RESURS-DK1 spacecraft downlinked more than 27 TB of scientific data in 15070 imaging pseudotracks; more than 4 billion scientific events were registered. During the orbital life, the revolutionary data on the fundamental processes occurred in the Galaxy was obtained that became world-known and required the revising of existing views relevant to high-energy particle generation and distribution. Practically for the first time in the world, the experimental results on the dark matter particle existence were obtained. The measurements of cosmic ray composition and energy spectra up to 1TeV made with unprecedented accuracy, refined the understanding of cosmic ray formation, acceleration, and propagation in the Galaxy mechanisms. The measurements of antiprotons and positrons in cosmic rays of between 100MeV and 200 GeV allowed checking the dark matter nature in a new way.

A successful 7-year operation of the RESURS-DK1 spacecraft confirms that the Russian designers have managed to create a commercial spacecraft, some characteristics of which complied with the best world standards at the moment of launching and some parameters exceeded them completely. A high reliability of the systems was achieved enabling the spacecraft warranty lifetime to be exceeded more than twice. During the period since 2006 till now, a large volume of very high resolution data over the territory of the Russian Federation, West and East Europe and several regions of Asia and America has been acquired.

May we bring to your attention the archived photos of the organizers and participants of the in-flight tests of RESURS-DK1 NKPOR, June 2006.

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