Spektr-R

Mission Profile

Spektr-R (RadioAstron) is a Russian space-based radio telescope launched on 18 July 2011 aboard a Zenit-3F rocket to a highly elliptical orbit reaching 350,000 km from Earth — nearly as far as the Moon — enabling extremely long baseline interferometry with ground-based radio telescopes. Operating at wavelengths from 92 cm to 1.35 cm, Spektr-R achieved angular resolutions far exceeding any previous radio telescope or array, providing the highest resolution images ever obtained of astronomical objects including the cores of active galactic nuclei and pulsars. The spacecraft operated successfully for over seven years until communication was lost in January 2019, well beyond its designed three-year lifetime. Spektr-R established Russia's capability in space VLBI and prepared the ground for the planned Spektr-RG X-ray telescope mission.