Russia launches satellite project to monitor the Arctic
The first of four satellites in Russia’s new space monitoring system “Arktika” will be launched in three years. The system can explore oil and gas fields, monitor ships on the Northern Sea Route and secure more precise weather forecasts in the Northern Hemisphere.
- The development of such a system will guarantee the implementation of Russia’s key tasks in the Arctic, says Head of the Russian Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, to Voice of Russia.
The satellites should first and foremost explore oil and gas deposits in the seas of the Arctic Ocean, to guarantee the safety in the development of these fields, Perminov said. The next task will be to escort ships sailing Between the Far East, Kamchatka and the Barents Sea. -Establishing control over all kinds of economic activity that will be shifted to the far north of Russia will be another task of the space monitoring system, Anatoly Perminov said.
The Arktika space system consists of two satellites with radar systems and another two with equipment for hydro-meteorological monitoring.
The “Arktika” space monitoring system paves the way for making more precise weather forecasts for a long time period not only in Russia but in the Northern Hemisphere as a whole. Moreover, it could be used for assessing emergency situations. For one, the existing space systems have failed to monitor the spread of volcanic ash accurately from a volcano in Iceland in the past weeks.
The head of Russia’s space agency said that the country is planning to launch two satellites to guarantee reliable communication and television links to the northern regions.
