Persona is a class of Russian

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 ...

s, derived from the Resurs DK class of remote sensing satellite, in turn derived from the Soviet Yantar reconnaissance satellites. The satellites are built by

TsSKB-Progress The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...

, and the optics by

LOMO LOMO (russian: Ленинградское Oптико-Mеханическое Oбъединение, Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie, Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association) is a manufacturer of medical and motion-picture lens ...

and the Vavilov State Optical Institute.

Satellite

The first satellite, identified as Kosmos 2441, was launched into a 750 km

sun synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

on 26 July 2008, atop a

Soyuz-2.1b Soyuz-2 (GRAU index 14A14) is a modernized version of the Soviet Soyuz rocket. In its basic form, it is a three-stage launch vehicle for placing payloads into low Earth orbit. Compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz, the first-stage bo ...

carrier rocket A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

from LC-43/4 at the

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200&n ...

. It reportedly failed to return useful imagery due to an electrical malfunction. A second satellite, Kosmos 2486, was launched on 7 June 2013 and after some initial technical problems, it was apparently operational in Summer 2014. The third satellite, Kosmos 2506, was successfully launched on 23 June 2015.

Details

The satellites had a mass of , are long, and in diameter. The satellites optical subsystems are believed to be based on a 3-mirror Korsch type telescope with a primary mirror diameter of and focal length of . The

CCD sensor A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

is probably ELCT1080v1U with a pixel size of 9 μm. The CCD is produced by ELAR, previously known as ELECTRON-OPTRONIC. The focal plane unit is manufactured by NPO Opteks. The satellites had a

nadir The nadir (, ; ar, نظير, naẓīr, counterpart) is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface. The direc ...

image

spatial resolution In physics and geosciences, the term spatial resolution refers to distance between independent measurements, or the physical dimension that represents a pixel of the image. While in some instruments, like cameras and telescopes, spatial resolutio ...

of , using

panchromatic Panchromatic emulsion is a type of black-and-white photographic emulsion that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light. Description A panchromatic emulsion renders a realistic reproduction of a scene as it appears to the human eye, altho ...

imagery. They are planned to operate for seven years.

Satellites

Persona Number 1

The launch of the first Persona satellite was planned to be launched in 2004, however technical issues in 2002 pushed the launch date to 2006. Project delays and cost overruns led Russia's two other leading spacecraft developers,

NPO Lavochkin NPO Lavochkin (russian: НПО Лавочкина, OKB-301, also called Lavochkin Research and Production Association or shortly Lavochkin Association, LA) is a Russian aerospace company. It is a major player in the Russian space program, being th ...

and

RKK Energia PAO S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (russian: Ракетно-космическая корпорация «Энергия» им. С. П. Королёва, Raketno-kosmicheskaya korporatsiya "Energiya" im. S. P. Korolyov ...

, to propose the launch of a third Araks satellite as a stop-gap measure. The Russian government held to their original plan to launch the Persona satellite delaying the launch until 2007, 2009, then January 2008. At the time of the launch, the price tag had reached 5 billion

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

s. Despite shipment to the launch site to meet an announced government milestone, the craft was still far from readiness and launch was delayed until the end of the July 2008. Reportedly a botched test in the Spring damaged components. After an additional delay for technical problems the satellite was launched on 26 July 2008. In February 2009,

Rossiskaya Gazeta ' (russian: Российская газета, lit. Russian Gazette) is a Russian newspaper published by the Government of Russia. The daily newspaper serves as the official government gazette of the Government of the Russian Federation, publishi ...

reported that the first Persona satellite had failed due to issues with onboard electronics. Other theories for the failures include an improperly chosen

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

that place the spacecraft too close to Earth's radiation belt or that imported, low-cost electronics led to a critical failure in aviation components. Consequently, the satellite became unable to transmit images.

References

External links

Electro-optical systems for Earth remote sensing developed by LOMO (In Russian)

{{Orbital launches in 2015 Reconnaissance satellites of Russia Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-2 rockets Spacecraft launched in 2008 Spacecraft launched in 2013 Spacecraft launched in 2015 Military equipment introduced in the 2000s