EgyptSat 2

EgyptSat 2
Mission type Remote sensing
Operator NARSS
COSPAR ID 2014-021A[1][2]
SATCAT № 39678[2]
Website www.narss.sci.eg
Mission duration Planned: 11 years[3]
Final: 363 days
Spacecraft properties
Bus 559GK[1]
Manufacturer RSC Energia[4]
Launch mass 1,050 kilograms (2,310 lb)[1][5]
Power 3000 watts[3][6]
Start of mission
Launch date April 16, 2014, 16:20 (2014-04-16UTC16:20Z) UTC[6]
Rocket Soyuz-U
Launch site Baikonur 31/6
End of mission
Last contact April 14, 2015 (2015-04-14)
Orbital parameters
Regime LEO
Perigee 436 kilometres (271 mi)
Apogee 703 kilometres (437 mi)
Inclination 51.6 degrees
Period 96.05 min
Epoch 17 April 2014, 04:55 UTC[2]
Main
Name EgyptSat 2
Resolution 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) (Pan)[4]
4 metres (13 ft) (MS)[4]

EgyptSat 2 also called (MisrSat 2) is Egypt's second remote sensing Earth observation satellite built by the Russian RSC Energia and the Egyptian NARSS while the incorporated cameras and payload was developed by OAO Peleng and NIRUP Geoinformatsionnye Sistemy in Belarus.[1][4]

A frameless spacecraft had been utilized in EgyptSat 2, as it is an innovative technology being first time used in Russia.[7][8]

EgyptSat 2 was launched on board a Soyuz-U rocket on 16 April 2014 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome[9] which was a milestone toward establishing the Egyptian Space Agency.[10]

History

EgyptSat 2 was planned to be launched in October 1, 2013 but the launch was put on hold on 2011[2] following all contact being lost with EgyptSat 1 due to a failure of its S-Band communication system.[11]

Overview

In 2007, Egypt made its first attempt to launch a high-resolution surveillance satellite launching the Ukrainian-made EgyptSat 1, but the satellite failed prematurely after 3 years, However, Egypt continued working with Yuzhnoye Design Bureau for the next project, until it received a bid from Russia to supply a state-of-the-art "eye in the sky". Negotiations lasted for more than four years until Egypt awarded the contract to Russia for the development of a high-resolution imaging satellite.

The project was handled by RKK Energia based on Korolev on the behalf of Russia, codenamed "E-Star".[12] 60 percent of the satellite's hardware was made by Egypt.[13] Russia also trained Egyptian engineers to control the satellite from a ground station near Cairo. The cost of the project is rumored to be around 40 million dollar fully funded by the Egyptian Armed Forces.[12]

The ship was shipped to Baikonur on February 2014 and was launched on April 16, 2014.

Description

EgyptSat 2 is a hexagonal satellite, equipped with three deployable, fixed solar arrays and nickel-hydrogen batteries, and Its optical imaging payload will cover the visible and infrared spectral bands, providing a ground resolution of 13.1 feet (four meters) for multispectral imagery and 3.3 feet (one meter) for panchromatic imagery. It includes total coverage of Egypt’s land and maritime territory and their environs.[13]

A new and revolutionary technology had been demonstrated first time, as EgyptSat 2 became the first frameless spacecraft created in Russia and the first satellite created by such technology in the history of Russian cosmonautics. The frameless base technology reduces the final assembly of the satellite from six months with several trained professionals and special equipment, to 10 minutes with only two experts, which in turn minimizes effort, time and costs while not compromising the quality of the final product.[7][8]

Mission

The satellite is supposed to supply the Egyptian government with high-resolution views of Earth for environmental, scientific and military applications.[9] Data will be transmitted through an X-band communications terminal at a rate of 300-600 Mbit/s to ground stations located near Cairo and Aswan.[13]

According to Tal Dekel, a research fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security, few were aware of the extent of Egypt’s satellite program and the satellite is disguised as scientific research but the truth it would be used by the Egyptian Armed Forces as a spying satellite.[12]

EgyptSat 2 acquired its first images on April 30, that released by RSC Energia showing Taylor Bay and Melbourne, Australia.[6]

EgyptSat 2 is circularising its orbit at about 720 kilometers height using an electric propulsion system, planned to complete in August 2014.[4]

The total cost of the mission was about $40 million.[4][14]

Assumed lost and end of mission

On April 14, 2015, the EgyptSat 2 was unresponsive to commands from the Earth and control over the satellite was lost due to a human factor as the main possible cause according to the Russian Izvestiya newspaper, citing a source in the RSC Energia.[15][16] While the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) insisted that EgyptSat 2 is still recoverable,[17] as the head of NARSS Medhat Mokhtar said, "What was reported about is in fact a regular technical failure. It happens every now and then to all the satellites. The problem will be fixed in the next few hours," explaining that, "any failure in control of satellite begins with absence of response to commands from Earth, and the low battery could be the problem, but it will be fixed and control will be fully restored."[16]

EgyptSat 2 was experienced few problems since December 2014, as it lost some of the battery capacity,[17] also on mid-April 2015, EgyptSat 2 had an attitude control issues, then a failure of the primary and backup computer of the satellite had occurred within 15 seconds of each other and no official information was released by the satellite’s operator or manufacturer.[18]

See also

External media
Images
EgyptSat 2 satellite with Soyuz-U rocket Russia launches spy satellite for Egypt. russianspaceweb. 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014. 
Video
Transportation of Soyuz-U rocket with EgyptSat 2 to the launch pad and final preparations Вывоз РКН Союз-У с КА EgyptSat 2 [Removal of the Soyuz-U space rocket with spacecraft EgyptSat 2]. Телестудия Роскосмоса. 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014. 
Launch of Soyuz-U rocket with EgyptSat 2 on-board Пуск РКН Союз-У с КА EgyptSat 2 [Start of the Soyuz-U space rocket with spacecraft EgyptSat 2]. Телестудия Роскосмоса. 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014. 

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "EgyptSat 2 (MisrSat 2)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "2014 - Launches to Orbit and Beyond". Zarya Soviet, Russian and international space flight. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 "EgyptSat-2 (MisrSat-2) spacecraft launch". Center for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anatoly Zak (25 April 2015). "EgyptSat-2 spy satellite". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "Satellite: EgyptSat-2". Observing Systems Capability Analysis and Review Tool. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "Soyuz-U - EgyptSat-2 Launch Updates". spaceflight101. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Technology has helped reduce satellite assembly time". Rostec. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  8. 1 2 «РТ-Химкомпозит» сократил срок сборки космических аппаратов. РТ-Химкомпозит (in Russian). 18 April 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Egyptian reconnaissance satellite launched by Soyuz". spaceflightnow. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Egyptsat-2 a Step Towards Egyptian Space Agency". allafrica. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "EgyptSat 1 (MisrSat 1)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  12. 1 2 3 YAAKOV LAPPIN. "Egypt struggles for spy satellite program progress". Jeursalem Post.
  13. 1 2 3 "EgyptSat-2 Ready to Launch Wednesday Atop Soyuz-U Booster". America Space.
  14. ↑ Barensky, Stefan (17 April 2014). "Un satellite d'observation russe pour l'Egypte". Air et Cosmos (in French). Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  15. ↑ "Communication with EgyptSat 2 satellite lost: Russian newspaper". The Cairo Post. Cairo. Youm7. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  16. 1 2 "Egyptian Space Authority Denies Losing Control of EgyptSat Two Satellite". Sputnik news. Moscow. Sputnik. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  17. 1 2 Todd, David (28 April 2015). "Egyptsat 2 still not recovered after "loss of control"". Seradata. Russia. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  18. ↑ "EgyptSat-2 Earth Observation Satellite faces potentially Fatal Problems". spaceflight101. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
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