Sterkh was a Russian satellite-based

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

system, which formed part of the International Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided System (

COSPAS-SARSAT The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme is a satellite-aided search and rescue (SAR) initiative. It is organized as a treaty-based, nonprofit, intergovernmental, humanitarian cooperative of 45 nations and agencies (see infobox). It is dedi ...

Overview

Sterkh was developed as a replacement for the older Nadezhda system. Unlike their predecessors, Sterkh satellites did not carry navigation systems, since this function had been taken over by

GLONASS GLONASS (russian: ГЛОНАСС, label=none, ; rus, links=no, Глобальная навигационная спутниковая система, r=Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, t=Global Navigation Satellite System) is ...

. Sterkh satellites were smaller than their predecessors and were designed to be launched as secondary payloads with other satellites. The satellites had a mass of 160 kg. Their overall dimensions were 750 x 1359 x 2000 mm in shipping condition, and 976 x 2957 x 10393 mm in operational condition, with opened solar panels and risen gravitational bar. The satellites incorporated the air-borne radio rescue complex RK-SM. They were expected to have an operational lifetime of 5 years. The satellites were designed and manufactured by

Production Corporation Polyot Production Association Polyot (russian: Производственное объединение «Полёт», , flying, flight) is a Russian aerospace engineering state corporation best known for being the manufacturer of GLONASS satellites and t ...

. The first satellite in the series, Sterkh-1, was launched on 21 July 2009 aboard a

Kosmos-3M The Kosmos-3M (russian: Космос-3М meaning "''Cosmos''", GRAU index 11K65M) was a Russian space launch vehicle, member of the Kosmos rocket family. It was a liquid-fueled two-stage launch vehicle, first launched in 1967 and with over 420 ...

carrier rocket along with a

Parus ''Parus'' is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family. It was formerly a large genus containing most of the 50 odd species in the family Paridae. The genus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed mo ...

. Sterkh-2 was launched on 17 September 2009 on 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 ...

along with 7 other satellites. Both satellites, however, failed shortly after their respective launches. Sterkh-1's flight control system malfunctioned, leaving the satellite unable to orient its solar panels toward the Sun, depleting its battery. Sterkh-2's

attitude control Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc. Controlling vehicle ...

system was rendered inoperable due to the failed deployment of a special stabilization boom. These failures led

Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

to cancel the Sterkh program in November 2012, and follow-on search and rescue payloads were launched on

GLONASS-K GLONASS-K is the latest satellite design intended as a part of the Russian GLONASS radio-based satellite navigation system. Developed by ISS Reshetnev (Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev) and first launched on 26 February 2011, it is a sub ...

satellites instead.

References

2009 in spaceflight Spacecraft launched in 2009 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-2 rockets {{Russia-spacecraft-stub