Aviation Week & Space Technology
06/30/2003, page 34
Craig Covault
Le Bourget
Out of the Closet
A Russian company that has built secret military imaging spacecraft
is about to launch an upgraded commercial version of one of the
vehicles that could be used as a "poor man's reconnaissance
satellite" while competing with U.S. and European civil
remote-sensing spacecraft.
In addition to the turnkey imaging services that the Russians would
like to provide internationally, managers at the Paris air show
said the Russian Ministry of Defense would also be a heavy user of
the DK1 satellite.
This use is to be much like how the U.S. Defense Dept. routinely
acquires Landsat and other commercial satellite imagery.
Chinese space officials were among the visitors to the TsSKB
Progress Production Center display, at Le Bourget, to discuss the
Resurs DK1 spacecraft set for launch later this year on board a
Soyuz booster.
European Space Agency managers also discussed the program's
Earth-resources imaging capability with the Russians here. The
Progress production facility that builds the DK in Samara is not
related to the Energia Progress spacecraft used for space station
resupply.
The specifications and design for the company's DK1 have more in
common with medium-resolution military reconnaissance capabilities
than standard remote-sensing operations.
