Yantar (satellite)

For other uses, see Yantar.

Yantar (Russian: Янтарь meaning amber) were a series of Russian (previously Soviet) reconnaissance satellites,[1] which supplemented and eventually replaced the Zenit spacecraft. Kosmos 2175, a Yantar-4K2 or Kobalt spacecraft, was the first satellite to be launched by the Russian Federation following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Yantar-Terilen was the first real-time digital system. Yantar satellites also formed the basis for the later Orlets, Resurs and Persona satellites.[2] 179 have been launched, nine of which were lost in launch failures. All Yantar satellites were launched using the Soyuz-U carrier rocket until Kosmos 2480 in 2012 which was announced as the last launch of that rocket from Plesetsk.[3] Subsequent launches used the modernized Soyuz-2.1a rocket. The last Yantar mission was Kosmos 2505, a Yantar-4K2M or Kobalt-M, launched on 5 June 2015. Reconnaissance missions have been taken over by the Persona class of satellites.[4]

Yantar 2K and Resurs F1
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference astro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Johnson, Stephen B. (2006). "The History and Histography of National Security Space" (PDF). NASA.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Xinhua was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Zak, Anatoly (2012-09-28). "Kobalt-M satellite". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 2016-03-14.