The Falcon
9 rocket with the Ukrainian optical satellite for remote sensing of the
Earth "Sich-2-30" was launched in the United States on January
13.
This was reported to BBC News Ukraine by the State Space Agency of Ukraine.
The launch of the Ukrainian satellite by the SpaceX rocket took place yesterday, January 13, 2022, at 5:25 pm Kyiv time from the US Space Force base at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The satellite was separated from the rocket and entered orbit at 6:50 pm Kyiv time. At 8:15 pm it flew over Ukraine. The launch took place within the Transporter 3 mission.
A space
satellite was launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX company’s Falcon 9 rocket. In
total, the Falcon 9 rocket is to launch 105 different objects into orbit.
The Sich
2-30 satellite is the first Ukrainian Earth remote sensing device to launch during
the last 10 years.
The main
purpose of the satellite is to get digital photographs of the Earth's surface
in the visible and near-infrared ranges, as well as to monitor the parameters
of the planet's ionosphere. The satellite has a data storage capacity of 10 GB,
the data transfer rate is 30.72 Mbps.
The launch
and further use of this satellite will allow to solve many pressing problems of
socio-economic, environmental, informational, scientific, and educational
nature, as well as to ensure the realization of Ukraine's interests in the
field of national security and defense.
For
Ukraine, the satellite could mark the first step in overcoming the space
crisis. It can be used not only for important civilian tasks, such as
monitoring the state of the environment or emergencies, but also to monitor the
movement of troops.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated on the rocket launch.
The live broadcast record of the launch is available on the YouTube channel Space X.
