BelKA

BelKA (an acronym from Belarusian: Беларускі Касмічны Апарат, Belarusian Cosmic Apparatus) was intended to be the first satellite of independent Belarus.

It was a remote sensing satellite that utilizes the Victoria universal satellite bus, developed by Belarusian researchers and Russian Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya for National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus as the final customer of the satellite, which had the capacity to take photos of the Earth surface, with a maximum resolution of 2-2.5 meters.

BelKA was launched, along with seventeen other satellites, on July 26, 2006 at 19:45 GMT, however 86 seconds later, the Dnepr-1 rocket suffered an engine failure and crashed, destroying the satellites.

The name BelKA is thought to be an allusion to the dog, Belka, who, together with Strelka orbited the Earth and returned safely on Sputnik 5 in 1960.

• Satellite: BelKA 1
• Nation: Belarus
• Type / Application: Earth Observation
• Operator: National Academy of Sciences of Republic of Belarus
• Contractors: Russian RKA Energiya
• Configuration: Victoria bus
• Launcher: Dnepr-1 (also with Baumanets 1, AlMaSat 1)
• Launch: July 26, 2006, from the Russian space launch facility Baikonur Cosmodrome
• Planned lifetime: at least 5 years
• Mass: ~750 kg
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit, at 510 km altitude
• Outcome: Carrier rocket failure, satellite destroyed