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Russia to boost sat monitoring of Arctic
Published: 29 April, 2010, 11:57
Edited: 04 May, 2010, 14:47
TAGS: Space, Arctic, Russia, SciTech
Russia’s space agency is working on a satellite constellation which will be used for close monitoring of the Arctic. The first one will be ready for launch three years after the government gives it the green light.
The “Arktika” system will have at least four satellites costing some $2.4 billion, head of Roscosmos Anatoly Perminov announced on Thursday. Two sun-synchronous spacecraft will be used for radar monitoring of the polar region while two others placed at higher elliptical orbits will be equipped with meteorological sensors.
Russia plans to use the constellation to monitor shelf oil and gas fields and their extraction, track movements of sea vessels across the Arctic as well as for aviation traffic control. Meanwhile, the meteo-sats will monitor climate change in the region and will help Russian weather forecast services do a better job.
Perminov added that the agency’s future plans include expansion of the system with additional communication satellites, both for civilian use and for encrypted governmental and military communication.
The cost of the project will be split between the national budget and private investors. Perminov hopes that at least half of the needed sum will be funded by interested companies and organizations.
The project is to be considered by the government by June. If given the green light, “Arktika” will generate profit by 2016 and return investment by 2028, the head of Roscosmos estimated.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_constellation