BelKA
Encyclopedia
BelKA was intended to be the first satellite of independent Belarus
.
It was a remote sensing satellite that utilizes the Victoria universal satellite bus, developed by Belarusian researchers and Russian Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya for National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus as the final customer of the satellite, which had the capacity to take photos of the Earth surface, with a maximum resolution of 2-2.5 meters.
BelKA was launched, along with seventeen other satellites, on July 26, 2006 at 19:45 GMT, however 86 seconds later, the Dnepr-1 rocket
suffered an engine failure and crashed, destroying the satellites.
The name BelKA is thought to be an allusion to the dog
, Belka, who, together with Strelka
orbited the Earth and returned safely on Sputnik 5
in 1960.
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
.
It was a remote sensing satellite that utilizes the Victoria universal satellite bus, developed by Belarusian researchers and Russian Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya for National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus as the final customer of the satellite, which had the capacity to take photos of the Earth surface, with a maximum resolution of 2-2.5 meters.
BelKA was launched, along with seventeen other satellites, on July 26, 2006 at 19:45 GMT, however 86 seconds later, the Dnepr-1 rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
suffered an engine failure and crashed, destroying the satellites.
The name BelKA is thought to be an allusion to the dog
Russian space dogs
During the 1950s and 1960s the USSR used a number of dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights to determine whether human spaceflight was feasible. In this period, the Soviet Union launched missions with passenger slots for at least 57 dogs. The actual number of dogs in space is smaller, as...
, Belka, who, together with Strelka
Strelka
Strelka, Russian for "little arrow" may refer to one of the following:*Strelka , one of the Russian space dogs*Strelka, a tip on a confluence or divergence of two rivers or distributaries, particularly:...
orbited the Earth and returned safely on Sputnik 5
Sputnik 5
Korabl-Sputnik 2 , also known as Sputnik 5 in the West, was a Soviet artificial satellite, and the third test flight of the Vostok spacecraft. It was the first spaceflight to send animals into orbit and return them safely back to Earth...
in 1960.
- Satellite: BelKA 1
- Nation: BelarusBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
- Type / Application: Earth Observation
- Operator: National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Belarus
- Contractors: Russian RKA Energiya
- Configuration: Victoria bus
- Launcher: Dnepr-1 (also with Baumanets 1, AlMaSat 1)
- Launch: July 26, 2006, from the Russian space launch facility Baikonur CosmodromeBaikonur CosmodromeThe Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
- Planned lifetime: at least 5 years
- Mass: ~750 kg
- Orbit: Low Earth OrbitLow Earth orbitA low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
, at 510 km altitude - Outcome: Carrier rocket failure, satellite destroyed