Thermal vacuum tests of the Arktika-M spacecraft have been successfully carried out at the branch test center of the State Corporation “Roscosmos” – the Scientific Test Center of the rocket and space industry in Peresvet. They are part of the presentation and acceptance tests of the device under conditions that simulate the effects of outer space (deep vacuum, cold “black” space, heating by the Sun, etc.).
Confirmation of the operability of all its systems in an environment close to real operating conditions was carried out in a VK 600/300 thermal vacuum unit. Previously, this chamber successfully tested other spacecraft of the Lavochkin Research and Production Association (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) based on the Navigator platform: Spektr-RG, Electro-L No. 1, 2, 3. After The successfully tested spacecraft was returned to NPO Lavochkin for further ground checks.
Spacecraft such as “Arktika-M” and “Electro-L” are created on the basis of the unified platform “Navigator” and have almost identical target equipment. The main difference between spacecraft is the way of solving the target problem – “Electro-L” conducts regular (with a frequency of 15-30 minutes) surveying the Earth from a geostationary orbit, and “Arktika-M” will conduct a similar survey of the Arctic region of the Earth (inaccessible for continuous observation from of the geostationary orbit), being in the apogee region of the highly elliptical orbit of the “Molniya” type (in this section, the observation conditions are commensurate with the possibilities of observation from the geostationary orbit).
Taking into account the peculiarities of the operation orbit of the “Arktika-M” spacecraft, increased requirements for the radiation protection of equipment, increased the area of solar batteries. In addition, continuous round-the-clock observation of the Arctic region from a highly elliptical orbit of the Molniya type requires the sequential use of at least two spacecraft, alternately replacing each other on the working section of the orbit located in the region of its apogee. Therefore, the minimum required composition of the orbital group of the space system “Arktika-M” is two spacecraft.