Photon (spacecraft)

Work on the creation of the satellite began in 1983 . The first launch of the spacecraft was made on April 16, 1985 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome . A total of 16 launches were made, 15 of which were successful and one ended with a booster explosion at 29 seconds of flight.

The first series of satellites included 12 devices, after which the letter M ( Photon-M ) was added to the name of the series and the numbering began again from one. Photon-M differs from the previous model by twice the average daily energy consumption of scientific equipment, expanded service capabilities associated with monitoring on-board and scientific equipment, and a revised thermal control system.

• Study of the physical and technical foundations of space technology and space production ;
• Testing of technological processes and installations;
• Experimental production of materials and substances in space flight conditions;
• Conducting biotechnological experiments.

In particular, experiments are being carried out in the field of obtaining semiconductor and optical materials, molecular structures, crystal growth , determining the level of microacceleration , cell biology, the influence of factors of near-Earth space ( vacuum , radiation , etc.) on objects returned to Earth, etc.

Russian organizations, organizations of the European Space Agency , the National Center for Space Research ( France ), the German Center for Aviation and Cosmonautics , organizations in Sweden , Canada , Italy , the Netherlands and others participate in experiments on Photon series spacecraft.

After putting into a working orbit , the Photon is oriented in the orbital coordinate system, then the control system is turned off and the spacecraft performs an unoriented flight, due to which a favorable gravitational situation on board is ensured. After the scientific program is completed, the device is oriented and the descent module is lowered to Earth .

"Photon-M4"

The MCC partially lost contact with the Foton-M4 biosatellite, launched into Earth’s orbit from Baikonur on July 19, 2014, several turns after the biosatellite was launched into orbit. The available one-way communication showed that all the service systems of the spacecraft operate in accordance with the logic of the onboard spacecraft control system, but did not allow the vehicle to be brought into the calculated orbit and to monitor the state of biological objects on board ( geckos and other animals and plants were on board) ^[1] . The communication was restored on July 26, 2014 ^[2] , it was decided not to lift the spacecraft into a higher orbit, but to leave it in the reference orbit for the entire duration of the experiments. On September 1, 2014, the Photon-M4 biosatellite descent module landed in the planned area of ​​the Orenburg region ^[3] .

• "Photon" on the site of TsSKB-Progress