KHIMKI. June 4 (Interfax) - Roscosmos is set to put the Obzor-R radar satellite into orbit a year from now, the corporation's head Dmitry Rogozin said.
"We plan to put our first radar satellite into orbit precisely one year from now. This will mean that images will not depend on the weather. The Obzor-R satellite is practically ready," Rogozin told the press on Tuesday.
An informed source told Interfax in late January that the first Obzor-R radar satellite would be delivered to the client by at least the first quarter of 2020.
Obzor-R will be carrying the Kasatka-R space radar, which will take images with an up to 30-centimeter resolution regardless of cloud cover. The radar was created by the Russian Space Systems holding.
A representative from the holding told Interfax last summer that Kasatka would be the Obzor-R's main instrument.
According to the representative, the Obzor-R and the Kasatka-R radar will broaden remote sensing capacities. The radar will sense the Earth's surface in X-ray 24/7 regardless of weather conditions for the benefit of the Emergency Situations Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, Rosreestr, and other ministries and agencies, as well as Russian regions.
The satellite's launch was initially planned for 2019.