Monitor-E is the first Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 of a fleet of newly designed, small Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 observing satellites. It was launched August 26, 2005 (local time) from Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...

, and placed in a Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 synchronous orbit of 540 km.

Design

Monitor-E has a set of remote sensing devices. They are intended to make maps of the Earth's surface to be used for ecological

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

 monitoring and chart geological

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 features. It was built by the Khrunichev State Space Research Center.

Specifications

Sensors

• 8 m panchromatic
  Panchromatic
  Panchromatic film is a type of black-and-white photographic film that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light. A panchromatic film therefore produces a realistic reproduction of a scene as it appears to the human eye. Almost all modern photographic film is panchromatic, but some types are...
  
   (0.51-0.85 µm), swath width of not less 90 km
• 20–40 m multispectral (0.54-0.59/0.63-0.68/0.79-0.90 µm), swath width of not less than 160 km

Onboard storage

• 2x200 gigabit capacity

Data communications

• Transmission speeds of 15.36/61.44/122.88 Mbit/s

Orbit

• Altitude: 550 km - 97.5 degree sun synchronous
  Sun-synchronous orbit
  A Sun-synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit ascends or descends over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local mean solar time. The surface illumination angle will be nearly the same every time...
  
  inclination

Spacecraft

• Active life: 5 years
• Orientation precision: 0.1 degrees
• Stabilization precision: 0.001 degrees/s
• Average daily power consumption: 450 W
• Mass: 750 kg

Communications problems

After launch communications with Monitor-E was difficult to establish, initially. But a few hours later it was successfully contacted. On October 19 new problems developed and no communication was possible since then. Later on communications were restored and photographs from both cameras have been published on November 30, 2005.

External links

• Description of spacecraft by NTs OMZ
• Description of spacecraft by Khrunichev (text in Russian)
• Launch news item
• space.com news after launch
• CNN news item on loss
• First two photographs published by Khrunichev (text in Russian)
• Photographs published by NTs OMZ (text in Russian)