Its spatial resolution is only 7 meters per pixel, which is a record for Russian hyperspectrometers installed on nanosatellites, and for larger devices in Russia and abroad. Such "keen vision" will help to see the Earth in a multi-channel spectral display, conduct more thorough environmental monitoring and perform a number of tasks related to agriculture and a number of other areas. The launch of the SPUTNIX nanosatellite (part of Sitronics Group) with the hyperspectrometer of Samara University named after Korolyov is scheduled for the end of 2024.
The record-breaking nanosatellite is a six-unit spacecraft based on the nanosatellite platform developed by SPUTNIX engineers. The device has already been assembled, passed functional tests and is awaiting pre-flight preparation.
The hyperspectrometer is equipped with a powerful long-focus lens of Russian production and is designed to operate in the visible and near infrared range (the so-called VNIR range, from 400 to 1000 nm). The number of its spectral channels is from 150 to 300, while the length of the hyperspectrometer together with the lens is only about 30 cm. It also successfully passed SPUTNIX bench tests and is ready to work in orbit.
Earlier in May, scientists from Samara University named after Korolyov and the Image Processing Systems Institute (IPSI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences announced the successful flight test in space of the first Russian hyperspectrometer for nanosatellite cubesats. It was launched into orbit in August 2022, and for almost two years the device fully confirmed all expected characteristics. Its technical solutions were used in a joint project with SPUTNIX, and there they were significantly improved.
It is planned that, based on the data that the new nanosatellite with a hyperspectrometer will transmit from orbit, scientists from Samara University named after Korolyov will train teams of Russian schoolchildren in the basics of hyperspectral image analysis and processing.
We are interested in this project not only from the point of view of supporting the development of aerospace education, but also in terms of the very prospect of creating a spacecraft with a new hyperspectral imaging system. New in the global sense, since no such hypersensitive system in integration with a cubesat has been tested in orbit so far. This may open up new opportunities for the development of the private space sector, in which we ourselves are primarily interested as leaders in this market.
According to Ivanenko, in addition, SPUTNIX created more than 100 spacecraft in 2023, some of which have already been launched into orbit this year. They have replenished the private Russian group of satellites for remote sensing of the Earth and automatic identification of Sitronics Group vessels.
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