Review of the current state of the orbital groups of remote sensing spacecraft and information relay spacecraft

Review of the current state of the orbital groups of remote sensing spacecraft and information relay spacecraft

Currently in the USA and Western European countries there are many spacecrafts for Earth remote sensing in the interests of obtaining very high-resolution radio monitoring data with various types of target load: optoelectronic surveillance, radar surveillance, radio- and radio engineering reconnaissance. In this review article, most modern foreign optoelectronic surveillance spacecrafts are considered, including the families with the best resolution on the ground: Worldview, QuickBird, GeoEye, Keyhole, Pleiades, Spot, Eros, Cartosat; radar surveillance: Radarsat, SAR-Lupe, Lacrosse, ERS, Terrasar, Envisat, IGS; radio- and radio engineering reconnaissance: TacSat, Jumpseat, Orion, Vortex, Mentor, Magnum, Mercury, and Intruder. The article also discusses modern space systems for relaying information in high orbits: TDRSS, SDS, EDRS, DRTS, CTDRSS, which provide the possibility of instantaneous transmission of information to its recipients, with account for the characteristics of transponders and the frequency ranges used. The main technical characteristics of remote sensing spacecraft and satellite repeaters, through which the target information is reset to remote information reception and processing points, have been analyzed, summarized, and systematized. This structured review will eventually allow specialists in the aviation and rocket and space industry, dealing with issues of radio monitoring of radiated radio signals, to assess the efficiency of obtaining target information with the required quality based on the results of real-time radio monitoring.
Dmitry G. Pantenkov
JSC “Kronstadt”, Moscow, Russia
Nikolai V. Gusakov
JSC “Scientific Research Institute of Modern Telecommunication Technologies”, Smolensk, Russia
Andrei A. Lomakin
JSC “Kronstadt”, Moscow, Russia
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