Okean-O - Credit: Dmitry Pieson. 14,545 bytes. 383 x 345 pixels.

The Sich-2 / Okean-O 17F43 oceanographic research satellite weighed 6360 kg. Launched by the Zenit booster, it represented Phase 2 of the third generation of Soviet space systems, authorised in 1976. With both the satellite and launch vehicle manufacturer located in the Ukraine, it did not fly until long after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Mission was acquisition of operational oceanographic information in the interests of various branches of the national economy of the USSR and international cooperation; continued trials of new types of informational and measurement apparatus and methods of remote sensing of the earth's surface and atmosphere. Proposed scientific instruments were:

RLSBO-D side-looking radar with a swath width of 700 km and a resolution of 1.5 x 2.- km

Delta-2 scanning radiometer with a swath width of 900 km and a resolution of 16 x 21 km

MSU-M 4-band multispectral scanner with a swath width of 1930 km and a resolution of 1.7 km

MSU-SK 5-band multispectral scanner with a swath width of 600 km and a resolution of 175 x 245 m

MSU-V 8-band multispectral scanner with a swath width of 180 km and a resolution of 50 m

MSU-E 3-band multispectral scanner with a swath width of 45 km and a resolution of 30 m

Video optical spectrometer with a swath width of 740 km and a resolution of 1 km

Total Mass: 6,360 kg.

First of a new generation of larger Okean oceanographic satellites, carried a side-looking radar (RSL-BO), and a set of visible and infrared scanners and radiometers. It is built by the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye company and is a joint project of the Russian Aviation/Space Agency (RAKA) and the Ukrainian National Space Agency (NKAU).

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Okean-O 22,098 bytes. 336 x 371 pixels.

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• 5 - Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. HTML when accessed: http://www.skyrocket.de/space