BelKA
| BelKA | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Earth observation satellite |
| Country: |
 Belarus
|
| COSPAR-ID : | 2006-F03 |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 750 kg |
| Begin: | July 26, 2006, 19:43 UTC |
| Starting place: | Baikonur |
| Launcher: | Dnepr |
| Flight duration: | 5 years (originally planned) |
| Status: | destroyed |
| Orbit data | |
| Track height: | 510 km (originally planned) |
BelKA ( Russian and Belarusian БелКА - an acronym from the Belarusian Бел арускі К асьмічны А парат for Belarusian space apparatus ) should have become Belarus' first satellite . It was built by the Russian space company RKK Energija on behalf of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences .
mission
BelKA was an earth observation satellite based on the “Victoria” satellite platform from RKK Energija. The launch mass of the satellite was approx. 750 kg. BelKA should have been brought into a sun-synchronous orbit (SSE) with an altitude of 511 km and an orbit inclination of 97.4 °. The satellite cameras developed in Belarus should have provided images with resolutions of 2.5 m and 10.5 m. The lifespan of the satellite should be five years.
False start
Belka was launched on 26 July 2006 with a Dnepr-1 - launcher from Baikonur , but the rocket crashed after problems with the first stage, about 2 minutes after launch. The President of Belarus Aljaksandr Lukashenka was present at the start in Baikonur.
Successor Mission
The successor satellite Belka 2 was successfully launched on July 22, 2012.
Web links
- BelKA 1 . Gunter's Space Page (English)