Koronas-Foton
CORONAS (Complex ORbital Observations Near-Earth of Activity of the Sun) is a Russian program for study of the Sun and solar-terrestrial connections physics by series of spacecraft, which provides launching of three solar-oriented satellites onto the near-Earth orbit.
CORONAS-PHOTON (or Koronas-Foton) is the third satellite in this series. Two previous missions of the project are CORONAS-I (launched on 2 March 1994) and CORONAS-F (launched on 31 July 2001). Launching date of CORONAS-PHOTON spacecraft is 2009.
CORONAS-PHOTON is a part of International Living With a Star Program (ILWS).
The main goal of the project is the investigation of energy accumulation and its transformation into energy of accelerated particles processes during solar flares; the study of the acceleration mechanisms, propagation and interaction of fast particles in the solar atmosphere; the study of the solar activity correlation with physical-chemical processes in the Earth upper atmosphere.
Objectives of the mission:
Physics of the Sun
Solar-terrestrial connections physics
Astrophysics
The powersystem of Koronas-Foton failed in mid January 2010, ending the mission after only one year in orbit.
Nation: | Russia |
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Type / Application: | Science, solar |
Operator: | |
Contractors: | NPP VNIIEM |
Equipment: | |
Configuration: | Meteor-M bus |
Propulsion: | |
Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
Lifetime: | 3 years (planned); 1 year (achieved) |
Mass: | 1900 kg |
Orbit: | 500 km × 500 km, 82.5° |
Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
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Koronas Foton (Coronas Photon) | 2009-003A | 30.01.2009 | Pl LC-32/2 | Tsiklon-3 |