Kondor-FKA

Quick facts

Overview

Related Resources

Summary

Mission Capabilities

Kondor-FKA is Russia’s first commercial radar imaging satellite, which houses a single Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument (SAR-10) developed by NPOM. SAR-10 facilitates high-resolution ground observations in support of hydrology and military surveillance, regardless of time or weather, with three imaging modes: Spotlight, Stripmap, and ScanSAR.  Kondor-FKA observations have applications for soil moisture, biomass, vegetated land fraction, sea-ice cover and type, and land cover and topography.

Performance Specifications

Kondor-FKA operates in a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude between 512 and 515 km, an inclination of 97.4°, and an orbital period of 94.8 minutes. Observations are made with a minimum revisit capacity between 2-3 days.

SAR-10 operates in S-band between 3 and 3.13 GHz, with a spatial resolution as small as 1 m. The instrument’s deployable parabolic antenna supports variable swath widths between 10 and 150 km, across imaging modes that vary between 1 and 30 m spatial resolutions.

Space and Hardware Components

Kondor-FKA was launched aboard a Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M rocket from Site 1S, with a mass of 1100 kg. The satellite is based on the Kondor-E satellite platform, which has a 1500 W power capacity provided by two deployable solar arrays and batteries.

Overview

The Russian military reconnaissance and surveying satellite, Kondor-FKA (Federal Space Agency), was launched on May 26th, 2023 as a civilian counterpart to the Kondor satellite constellation by NPO Mashinostroyeniya (NPOM). With detailed radar imaging capabilities, the satellite will gather a range of qualitative hydrological data and imagery of ground features as small as 1 m in size. The mission’s Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations will support hydrological applications including soil moisture, biomass, vegetated land fraction, sea-ice cover and type, and land cover and topography. Additionally, military data applications will be conducted by the mission’s operators, the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces for internal data capabilities. 1) 2)

Spacecraft

The spacecraft uses the Kondor-E satellite bus, which is standard to the Kondor series satellites. Manufactured by NPOM, Kondor-FKA has 1100 kg mass, 350 kg of which belongs to the SAR-10 payload. Two deployable solar panels are mounted to the satellite with additional backup batteries to support a 1500 W power requirement. 3)

Although providing civilian and commercial applications, Kondor-FKA is a military counterpart to Kondor-E and will carry out defence surveillance alongside environmental readings. Satellites built for the Russian military are designated “Kondor”, while the suffix indicates where data is channelled. The “E” suffix indicates that the satellite is built for export while those for internal use have been termed “FKA” so far. 4) 5)  

The satellite also features a non-pressurised temperature control housing designed by Rostec that reduces the satellite’s internal volume by 15%, thus increasing its cost and mass efficiency. Rostec stated that this could increase the spacecraft’s lifetime by a factor of four. 9)

Launch

Kondor-FKA was launched on May 26th, 2023 at 00:14:51 Moscow time, aboard a ROSCOSMOS Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M rocket from Site 1S, Vostochny, Russia. The satellite was placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit between 512 and 515 km in altitude, with a 97.4° inclination and 94.8 minute period. Cyclical coverage of geographical regions will depend on strategic mission plans, but a minimum revisit time of 2-3 days will be maintained. 6) 7) 8)

Mission Status

• October 11, 2023: Kondor-FKA performs orbital correction manoeuvres, including a change in orbital inclination from 97.4328° to 97.4426° degrees toward the Equator. 10)
• 26th May 2023: Kondor-FKA is launched aboard a Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat-M rocket from Site 1S, Russia.

Sensor Complement

SAR-10 (Synthetic Aperture Radar-10)

Designed and developed by NPOM, the instrument payload consists of a Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument which provides high-resolution land observation data for military surveillance and civilian hydrology (soil moisture).

The 350 kg instrument has three modes and communicates in S-band frequency between 3 and 3.13 GHz. It hosts a 6m deployable parabolic antenna that allows for variable swath capabilities. 11)

Ground Segment

Due to the nature of data obtained, the Russian Military imposes heavy constraints on data access and information is not available for export. The satellite’s S-band downlink will be utilised by the Russian government. 12)

References  

1. WMO OSCAR, "Satellite: Kondor-FKA 1," URL: https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/kondor_fka_1

2. WMO OSCAR, "Details for Instrument SAR-10,", URL: https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/sar_10

3. Krebs, Gunter D, "Kondor-FKA 1, 2," URL: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kondor-fka-1.htm

4. "Kondor-FKA", Supercluster, URL: https://www.supercluster.com/launches/kondor-fka

5. "About: Kondor (satellite)," DBPedia, URL: https://dbpedia.org/page/Kondor_(satellite)

6. "Soyuz 2.1a launches Kondor-FKA no.1 satellite from Vostochny", NASASpaceFlight.com, URL: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/05/kondor-fka-n1-launch/

7. "Kondor-FKA no.1," Next Spaceflight, URL: https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/4101

8. "Technical details for satellite KONDOR FKA NO.1," N2YO.com, URL: https://www.n2yo.com//satellite/?s=56756

9. "Rostec has Enormously Increased the Service Life of Kondor-FKA Satellite," Rostec, June 7, 2023, URL: https://rostec.ru/en/news/rostec-has-enormously-increased-the-service-life-of-kondor-fka-satellite/

10. "Roskosmos launches radar-observation satellite," RussianSpaceWeb.com, URL: https://www.russianspaceweb.com/kondor-fka.html

11. "Kondor-FKA N1 Satellite Mission Summary," CEOS Database, URL: https://database.eohandbook.com/database/missionsummary.aspx?missionID=790

12. "THE CEOS DATABASE : MISSION, INSTRUMENTS AND MEASUREMENTS - BRLK S-range," URL: https://database.eohandbook.com/database/instrumentsummary.aspx?instrumentID=1750