Orbit Altitude: 540 km
Orbit Inclination: 97.5 degrees
Period: 95.2 minutes
Perigee: 532.0 km
Apogee: 539.2 km
Orbit Type: LEO > Low Earth Orbit > Polar Sun-Synchronous

There are no related records to this platform.

Monitor-E is a Russian Earth observation mission of KhSC (Khrunichev Space Center) on a small-class generic satellite series. The spacecraft was also designed and developed by KhSC of Moscow.

The ... Monitor-E mission represents the first operational use of the newly developed modular and multipurpose Yakhta platform, intended for use in various remote sensing, communications, and space research applications.

Spacecraft:

The spacecraft is 3-axis stabilized using the generic Yakhta platform with a launch mass of 750 kg. The attitude pointing accuracy is 0.1º, the attitude rate control accuracy is 0.001º/s (angular drift). Power of 1200 W (max at EOL) is provided by two solar panels. The spacecraft features a cross-track pointing capability of ±30º from nadir by using a flywheel system, thereby providing a FOR (Field of Regard) for observation coverage considerably beyond that of the nominal swath width. This new S/C agility is provided by the introduction of a CMG (Control Moment Gyro) subsystem, an actuator within the ADCS (Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem), developed by Russian industry. KhSC refers to the ADCS as ICS (Integrated Control System). The S/C system design life is 5 years.

Note: The Monitor-E spacecraft is of Monitor-E heritage (same name of previous and current missions) which was launched on June 30, 2003 from Plesetsk on a Rockot KS vehicle. On this flight, Monitor-E functioned as a mock-up (or prototype) spacecraft of KhSC with a mass of 700 kg. The spacecraft Monitor-E remained attached to the upper stage of the launch vehicle, it was used for demonstration purposes.

RF communications: The payload data are being received in X-band by ground stations of federal, regional, and local levels in Russia. An effort is being made to acquire the data in near real-time in support of fast reaction response applications.

Orbit: Sun-synchronous near-circular orbit: mean altitude = 540 km, inclination = 97.5º.

Launch: A launch of Monitor-E took place on Aug. 26, 2005 on a Rockot Breeze-KM launch vehicle of Eurockot Launch Services from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia.

Mission status: Monitor-E is operational as of 2007. So far, the spacecraft has collected imagery of more than 80 million km2.

• After launch and orbit insertion, the spacecraft experienced initial attitude control problems (flight controllers lost contact with the satellite). However, the flight controllers have regained control of Monitor-E, all systems are operating nominally and the spacecraft is in the commissioning phase as of early November 2005 (the checkout phase is estimated to last for up to 6 months to test the new components of the platform and the payload - and to conduct various operational experiments).

• In Sept. 2006, Monitor-E experienced a malfunction of its ADCS (Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem). After analysis of the problem nature, a software work-around procedure was developed and successfully installed onboard.

Information obtained from http://www.eoportal.org/

http://directory.eoportal.org/get_announce.php?an_id=11116