Resurs-P No.1

Resurs-P No.1

Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	Roskosmos
COSPAR ID	2013-030A
SATCAT no.	39186
Website	(in Russian) www.mcc.rsa.ru/resurs_p.htm
Mission duration	Planned: 5 years Final: 8 years and 6 months
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Resurs-P
Bus	Yantar
Manufacturer	TsSKB Progress
Launch mass	6,570 kilograms (14,480 lb)
Dimensions	7.93 by 2.72 metres (26.0 ft × 8.9 ft)
Start of mission
Launch date	25 June 2013, 17:28:48 (2013-06-25UTC17:28:48Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-2-1b
Launch site	Baikonur Cosmodrome 31/6
End of mission
Deactivated	December 2021
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Perigee altitude	470 kilometres (290 mi)
Apogee altitude	480 kilometres (300 mi)
Inclination	97.28 degrees
Epoch	Planned
Instruments
Geoton-L1, GSA, ShMSA

Resurs-P No.1^[1] was a Russian commercial Earth observation satellite capable of acquiring high-resolution imagery (resolution up to 1.0 m). It is one of a series of Resurs-P spacecraft. The spacecraft was operated by Roscosmos as a replacement of the Resurs-DK No.1 satellite until it ceased operations in 2021. In 2024 the satellite broke up, releasing objects into low earth orbit which required the crew of the ISS to take shelter.

Mission

The satellite was designed for multi-spectral remote sensing of the Earth's surface aimed at acquiring high-quality visible images in near real-time as well as on-line data delivery via radio link and providing a wide range of consumers with value-added processed data.^{[citation needed]}

In January 2022 the general director of Progress Rocket Space Centre, Dimitriy Baranov, announced that the satellite had been decommissioned in December 2021 because of "the failure of onboard equipment".^[2]

Breakup

Between June 26, 2024 at 13:05 UTC and June 27, 2024 at 00:51 UTC, Resurs-P1 released "a number of fragments" at an approximately 350 x 363 km Low Earth orbit according to debris-tracking service LeoLabs.^[3][4] United States Space Command later confirmed that Resurs-P1 had broken up into over 100 pieces of trackable space debris at approximately 16:00 UTC on 26 June 2024;^[5] LeoLabs later that afternoon announced that it was tracking 180 pieces of debris.^[6] Although there was no immediate threat to other satellites, because this orbit was close to that of the International Space Station its crew took shelter on the docked spacecraft for an hour as a precautionary measure.^[7]

This breakup likely happened because the satellite's passivation was not performed properly or performed at all. The use of an anti-satellite weapon was not in question since nothing of the sort was detected by any American or European assets.^[8]

See also

• Resurs-P

References

1. Zak, Anatoly. "Resurs-P remote-sensing satellite". RussianSpaceWeb. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
2. "Спутник "Ресурс-П" №1 вывели из состава группировки после отказа бортовой аппаратуры" [Satellite "Resurs-P" No. 1 was withdrawn from the group after the failure of on-board equipment]. TASS (in Russian). 18 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
3. "LeoLabs on Twitter". LeoLabs on Twitter. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
4. "Jonathan McDowell on Twitter". Jonathan McDowell on Twitter. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
5. "Press Release: Break-up of Russian-owned space object". United States Space Command (Press release). 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
6. "Astronauts take cover as defunct Russian satellite splits into nearly 200 pieces". June 27, 2024 – via The Guardian.
7. "Russian satellite blasts debris in space, forces ISS astronauts to shelter". CNBC. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
8. Foust, Jeff (2024-06-27). "Russian satellite breaks up, creating debris in low Earth orbit". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-06-29.

External links

• Roscosmos official website Archived 2016-04-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Resurs-P remote sensing satellite - RussianSpaceWeb.com