The launch of Soyuz TMA-11 from Baikonur spaceport, Kazakhstan
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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Russia Launched Persona to Get HR Shots for Intelligence
Russia’s Space Forces launched Soyuz-2-1b booster from Plesetsk spaceport Saturday night. The booster placed on orbit a new military satellite, Persona N1, and ended a seven-year break in transmitting to Earth the high resolution shots of its image via the radio channel for the purpose of Defense Ministry.
The new satellite has been designed and constructed at TsSKB-Progress Rocket & Space Center of Samara, the client is the Main Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces General Staff. Persona has been designed to take high-resolution shots and promptly transmit them to the Earth via a radio channel. Its length of warranty is seven years, but so far, Russia’s satellites of this designation (Neman) hasn’t operated more than a year and a half, although the U.S. Crystal and Improved Crystal have managed to last for roughly ten years.
Persona will end the seven-year break when the RF Defense Ministry was unable to urgently receive high-resolution shots from the space. The last Neman satellite left orbit far back in 2001 and the Main Intelligence Service has had Cobalt military satellites at disposal. Cobalts operated in space for roughly three months. Their shots were delivered to Earth in special capsules once a month and this delay materially lowered vitality of the data for intelligence.
The intelligence officers have probably used shots taken by the so-called commercial satellite, Resourse-DK1, since June of 2006. Those shots could be transmitted via a radio channel, but they capture only the objects of up to a meter size, while the detailed intelligence needs the dimension of at least 30 centimeters. Persona is said to meet exactly these requirements.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 28, 2008
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