Sterkh
Encyclopedia
Sterkh is a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n satellite-based search and rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...

 system, which forms part of the International Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided System (COSPAS-SARSAT
Cospas-Sarsat
Cospas-Sarsat is an international satellite-based search and rescue distress alert detection and information distribution system, established by Canada, France, the United States, and the former Soviet Union in 1979. It is best known as the system that detects and locates emergency beacons...

).

Overview

Sterkh was developed as a replacement for the older Nadezhda
Nadezhda
Nadezhda may refer to:*Nadezhda , people with the given name NadezhdaPlaces*Nadezhda, Sofia, a municipality, part of Sofia, Bulgaria*Nadezhda Strait, Okhotsk Sea*Nadezhda Island, Sitka County, AlaskaShips...

 system. Unlike their predecessors, Sterkh satellites do not carry navigation systems, since this function has been taken over by GLONASS
GLONASS
GLONASS , acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces...

. Sterkh satellites are smaller than their predecessors and were designed to be launched as secondary payloads with other satellites.

The satellites have a mass of 160 kg. Their overall dimensions are 750 x 1350 x 2000 mm in shipping condition, and 976 x 2957 x 10393 mm in operational condition, with opened solar panels and risen gravitational bar. The satellites incorporate the air-borne radio rescue complex RK-SM. They are expected to have an operational lifetime of 5 years. The satellites are designed and manufactured by Production Corporation Polyot
Production Corporation Polyot
Production Association Polyot is a Russian aerospace engineering company best known for being the manufacturer of GLONASS satellites and the Kosmos-3M space launch vehicle...

.

The first satellite in the series, Sterkh-1, was launched on 21 July 2009 aboard a Kosmos-3M carrier rocket along with a Parus
Parus (satellite)
Parus , also Tsyklon-B or Tsiklon-B and Tsikada-M , GRAU index 11F627, is a Russian, previously Soviet satellite constellation used for communication and navigation. As of 2010, 99 Parus satellites have been launched, starting with Kosmos 700 in 1974...

.

Sterkh-2 was launched on 17 September 2009 on a Soyuz-2.1b along with 7 other satellites.
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