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- Mission Objectives: The Zeya satellite is a Russian Military Communications satellite launched on March 4, 1997. Zeya is named after the Zeya River, which is very close to it's launch site, Cosmodrome Svobodniy. This was the first satellite launched from this new Russian launch site in far eastern Russia. Note: Sometimes also spelled Zeia. ILRS Mission Support Status: Satellite laser ranging was used for precision orbit determination for this spacecraft and used for calibration of GPS and GLONASS navigation equipment aboard the satellite. This satellite was only tracked for 6 months by the international laser ranging network. SLR tracking support was discontinued on 29 July 1997. Instrumentation: Zeya has the following instrumentation onboard:
1) Radio equipment 2) GPS receiver 3) GLONASS receiver 4) Laser retroreflector array RetroReflector Array (RRA) Characteristics: The retro-reflector array is a box array of 20 corner cubes, which are optimized at 532 nanometers. Twenty retroreflectors operating with principle "not more than one reflectors works in any direction" are installed on the satellite. Each retroreflector has field of view of 35 arc degrees. Retroreflectors ensure reflection of laser light within 47% of 4 steradian. Satellite's design provides accuracy of link of range measurements to the center of mass with root mean square error of about 5 mm. Systematic correction is 419 mm. The satellite is spinning around Y axis with angular velocity about 30 revolutions per minute. Additional information available at "http://ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/satellite_missions/list_of_satellites/zeya/"
[Summary provided by NASA]
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