Orlets-1 or Don (

GRAU The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...

index 17F12) is a Russian (previously

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

)

reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The ...

.NSSDC Master Catalog
Cosmos 2290
/ref>Gunter's Space Page

/ref> Orlets-1 was made after it was concluded that the

Yantar-2K Yantar-2K ( rus, Янтарь meaning amber) was a type of Soviet reconnaissance satellite which supplemented and eventually replaced the Zenit spacecraft. It was the first satellite of the Yantar series and was managed by the Soviet military int ...

satellite was not capable of providing strategic warning of attack, and drew on features of an existing draft project designated Yantar-6K. It has a wide-spectrum panoramic camera, carries 8 film return capsules and has a design life of 60 days, After its mission has ended, the satellite is detonated in its orbit. Orlets-1 is being launched by the

Soyuz-U The Soyuz-U launch vehicle was an improved version of the original Soyuz rocket. Soyuz-U was part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and cons ...

Soyuz-U2 The Soyuz-U2 (GRAU index 11A511U2) was a Soviet Union, Soviet, later Russian, carrier rocket. It was derived from the Soyuz-U, and a member of the R-7 (rocket family), R-7 family of rockets. It featured increased performance compared with the b ...

launch vehicle. An improved version of Orlets-1 exists, called Orlets-2.

References

* ''This article incorporates text from
NSSDC Master Catalog
', a publication in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

.'' Reconnaissance satellites of the Soviet Union Reconnaissance satellites of Russia {{USSR-spacecraft-stub