What are they fighting in Ukraine. How Russia will shoot down US intelligence satellites
The head of Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, who was dismissed on July 15, is too outrageous for the Russian (yes, in general, for any) bureaucratic and administrative community. Here the main role is played by his exceptional publicity and a clear political position. Despite this, even those who are critical of him recognize his effectiveness in office - the space industry is really making progress.
There are five Lotos and one Pion satellites in orbit, which make up the Liana system. Their task is to track the position of ship groups of NATO countries, but they can also be used on objects in Ukraine. Western experts believe that the system is used to guide cruise missiles.
Optical reconnaissance is carried out by two Persona satellites launched in 2013-2015. It is believed that they have already worked out the warranty period of service, but continue to work.
In addition, at least two radar reconnaissance satellites are operating: Condor (launched in 2014) and Neutron (launched in February of this year, there is no official Russian data on the purpose of the Kosmos-2553 apparatus).
There are currently no civilian remote sensing satellites in orbit. The formation of a new orbital constellation was planned to begin in 2023.
Ukraine does not have its own satellite constellation. At the beginning of this year, the SpaceX rocket launched the Sich-2-30 remote sensing satellite into orbit, but it cannot be used for military purposes either in terms of resolution (eight meters per pixel) or the nature of the launch (it went into orbit abnormally) .
However, the Ukrainian side is fully provided with information from American and European orbital groups, both military and commercial.
Formally, the transfer of intelligence data to Ukraine is not identical to participation in hostilities, but reconnaissance satellites themselves can be considered as combatants.
It is tempting to describe all the horrors that humanity will face in the event of a full-scale war in near space and the incapacitation of all satellites, including commercial ones, but the likelihood of this is not very high now.
bbabo.Net