Observations at any time of day: Russia has completed the formation of a new satellite constellation

Russia has launched the second satellite of the Kondor-FKA series into orbit, completing the formation of a space system capable of observing the planet's surface at any time of day and in any weather conditions. The new orbital grouping provides opportunities for obtaining detailed images of the Earth and significantly expands the potential of radar monitoring.

It is worth starting with the fact that the basis of the Condor-FKA satellites is a radar with a synthetic aperture, which sends electromagnetic pulses and then catches their reflection from the earth's surface. This technology allows you to obtain highly accurate images even through clouds, ice or fog, which is inaccessible to optical observation methods.



Russian satellites can record areas of the surface with a resolution of up to one meter in detailed mode and cover zones up to 120 kilometers wide in overview format. Thanks to the launch of the second device, the accuracy of monitoring has increased significantly.
The first satellite of the system, launched in 2023, has already proven its effectiveness, and the second took into account all the operating features of its predecessor.

It is worth noting that the idea of ​​equipping orbital vehicles with radar equipment is not new and is used by many countries. There are already about 30 such systems operating in the world. However, only modern artificial intelligence technologies and accumulated data arrays allow decoding radar images quickly and with minimal errors.

Radar equipment has already proven its value in research and military operations on numerous occasions. For example, in 2016, the European satellite Sentinel-1A measured ground displacement in North Korea after nuclear tests and was also used to monitor Russian military installations.

In turn, Soviet intelligence reported back in the 20th century that American aircraft could determine the location of Soviet submarines located at depth. Today, such tasks are solved using satellite technologies.

The Russian Federation uses the Condor-FKA system not only to monitor military facilities, but also to analyze the ice conditions on the Northern Sea Route.

It is also important that with the launch of the second satellite "Condor-FKA" our country does not stop there. In 2026, it is planned to launch the third device of this series into orbit, and right now the development of a modernized version of "Condor-FKA-M" with a resolution of up to 40 cm is underway.