France Media AgencyMar 01, 2021 09:44:10 AM
A Soyuz rocket that was launched on Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and carried Russia’s first satellite to monitor the Arctic climate, the space agency Roscosmos said. The video released by the Russian space agency showed the Soyuz blaster launching at 6:55 a.m. GMT with an Arktika-M satellite against gray skies. The head of the space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, later wrote on Twitter that communication with the satellite had been established. The surveillance system requires at least two satellites to function properly, the space agency said.
A Soyuz rocket launches a European meteorological satellite from Eumetsat from Kourou, French Guiana, on November 6, 2018. Representative picture. Image: AFP
“As part of the system, they will provide 24/7 all-weather surveillance of the Earth’s surface and the seas of the Arctic Ocean,” he added.
The launch of the second Arktika-M satellite is scheduled for 2023, reported the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
The economic exploitation of the Arctic is one of the main goals of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Arctic has vast reserves of oil and gas that are being monitored by Russia and other countries including the United States, Canada, and Norway.
British scientists reported last month that the world’s ice is disappearing at a rate equivalent to the “worst-case scenario for global warming”.
The team from the Universities of Edinburgh and Leeds and University College London found that some of the biggest losses in the last three decades were caused by Arctic sea ice.
