Small spacecraft-based space system for real-time Earth surface monitoring

The paper presents basic results of exploratory design studies into a space system for real-time monitoring of the Earth surface based on small spacecraft* for Earth remote sensing, which provides acquisition in real time of highly detailed Earth surface images with resolution of 0.7–1.0 m, a swath of 20 km and 15m in-plane georeferencing accuracy from a ~300 km orbit with a mass of spacecraft ~200 kgf repeating with high frequency (at least every 1.0–1.5h). The said parameters are in line with the current state of the art and are quite feasible for our country’s industry. _________________________________________ * — for the purposes of this paper ‘small spacecraft’ is a 150-220 kg spacecraft. Key words: small spacecraft, space system, Earth remote sensing, satellite bus, payload module, electro-optical equipment, multipurpose ground facility, combined ground station, services of space monitoring of the Earth surface.