by Giuseppe Gagliano –
Russia keeps its ground-monitoring capabilities under wraps, but the recent deployment of three military surveillance satellites reveals that Moscow is trying to improve its shortcomings in this area and reduce its dependence on satellite imagery provided by China.
Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, and Yuri Borisov, head of the Roscosmos space agency, attended an event at the Rocket and Space Corp Energy company in Korolyov on October 26, 2023, marking a significant moment in Russia’s space strategy. With the launch of six military surveillance satellites over the past year, Russian state media has proclaimed a doubling of the country’s space observation capacity, although in reality actual capabilities remain limited.
The Kondor FKA satellite, launched on May 26 by Roscosmos, aimed to replace its predecessor which was plagued by faults that limited its surveillance capabilities. Despite offering a resolution of one meter, the Kondor FKA is outperformed by observing systems from other countries. A second Kondor FKA satellite and the future Obzor-R constellation promise improvements, with an expected resolution of 50 cm, but are still below global standards aiming for 15 cm resolution.
The Bars-M satellite series represents Russia’s only fully operational Earth observation capability, with the first launches taking place in 2015 and 2016. Replacement satellites, launched in 2022 and 2023, continue to support mapping missions for Russian strategic forces, despite their limited image resolution.
At the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia had only five military observation satellites, now nearing the end of their operational life, with three already considered obsolete at the time of launch. The war accelerated the use of “civilian” capabilities for defensive purposes, highlighting further shortcomings.
In the field of optical observation, the Russian situation is even more critical. The Person 2 and 3 satellites, launched in 2013 and 2015, provide resolutions of around 33 cm, but were already considered technologically dated at the time of their launch. The difficulties encountered by the Resurs-P satellite constellation have further limited the country’s operational capabilities in this sector.
Future projects include the Razdan constellation, intended to replace the Person satellites, despite delays and development problems. Russia announced the launch of Kosmos 2572 in late November, supposedly the first Razdan satellite, although it has shown difficulty reaching its intended orbit.
At the same time, Roscosmos and the Russian defense forces are exploring the use of light satellites, following the example of US New Space operators, despite initial failures. Programs such as Razbeg, Sapsan and Sphere represent ongoing efforts in this direction.
Finally, Russia’s dependence on Chinese imaging intelligence highlights an issue of national sovereignty, with Russia actively seeking to improve its Earth observation infrastructure to support its military operations and reduce this dependence.
