RASAT was an
Earth observation satellite
An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...
designed and developed by
TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute
TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute () or TÜBİTAK UZAY for short, is a Turkish institution carrying out research and development projects on space technology, electronics, information technology, and related fields. It was establish ...
(TÜBİTAK UZAY) and produced in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
to provide high resolution imagery. It was the first
remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...
satellite fully realized in Turkey, and the second indigenously developed remote sensing satellite after
BILSAT-1
BILSAT-1 (formerly just ''BILSAT'') was an Earth observation satellite designed and developed by TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY) and produced in Turkey as part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) project ...
.
Financed by the
State Planning Organization (DPT) and designed by TÜBİTAK UZAY without any international know-how transfer, RASAT was launched from
Dombarovskiy Cosmodrome, near
Yasny in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
by a
Dnepr space launch vehicle at 08:12:20
UTC on August 17, 2011, along with seven other satellites
Sich-2 and
BPA-2 of
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
,
NigeriaSat-2 and
NigeriaSat-X of
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
,
EduSat of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
as well as
AprizeSat-5 and
AprizeSat-6 of
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. RASAT was placed 16 minutes and 9 seconds after the lift-off into a
low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...
of . The first signal from RASAT was received in the space center of
Andøya Rocket Range, northern
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
at 09:44:04 UTC. RASAT was controlled and observed at the space center of TÜBİTAK UZAY in
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
.
Mission
Projected for a mission duration of three years, RASAT is on a
Sun-synchronous geocentric orbit
A geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit, or Earth orbit involves any object orbiting Earth, such as the Moon or artificial satellites. In 1997, NASA estimated there were approximately 2,465 artificial satellite payloads orbiting Earth and 6,21 ...
. Its instruments, supplied by the
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
n space technology company
Satrec Initiative,
allowed for a
spatial resolution
In physics and geosciences, the term spatial resolution refers to distance between independent measurements, or the physical dimension that represents a pixel of the image. While in some instruments, like cameras and telescopes, spatial resoluti ...
of at panchromatic band and at multispectral band. RASAT carried out various civil applications on mapping and planning,
disaster management
Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actua ...
, ecosystem monitoring,
environmental control, landcover survey and coastal zone management.
Additionally, RASAT was used to test a custom designed on-board computer "BiLGE" capable of using
SpaceWire
SpaceWire is a spacecraft communication network based in part on the IEEE 1355 standard of communications. It is coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with international space agencies including NASA, JAXA, and RKA.
...
network, a
solid-state processor "GEZGİN-2" (an abbreviation for "GErçek Zamanda Görüntü İşleyeN") for real-time
image compression
Image compression is a type of data compression applied to digital images, to reduce their cost for computer data storage, storage or data transmission, transmission. Algorithms may take advantage of visual perception and the statistical properti ...
using algorithm of
JPEG 2000
JPEG 2000 (JP2) is an image compression standard and coding system. It was developed from 1997 to 2000 by a Joint Photographic Experts Group committee chaired by Touradj Ebrahimi (later the JPEG president), with the intention of superseding their ...
and a
telecommunication
Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
system "Treks" of
X band
The X band is the designation for a band of frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some cases, such as in communication engineering, the frequency range of the X band is set at approximately 7.0–11.2&nbs ...
transmitter module with 100
MB/s
In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...
data transfer rate and 7
Watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
power.
Images
The first images were received in Ankara on October 8, 2011.
With images captured by the satellite between 2012 and 2014, a "mosaic map" of Turkey was compiled. More than 3,000 images showing an area of each were used for the map. The map images are available at the website "gezgin.gov.tr" in the
image file formats
An image file format is a file format for a digital image. There are many formats that can be used, such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Most formats up until 2022 were for storing 2D images, not 3D ones. The data stored in an image file format may be c ...
of
.ecw (high
image resolution
Image resolution is the level of detail of an image. The term applies to digital images, film images, and other types of images. "Higher resolution" means more image detail.
Image resolution can be measured in various ways. Resolution quantifies ...
: 9 GB, low image resolution: 50 MB),
.jp2 (21.8 GB, 33 MB),
.tif (35.7 GB, 58.1 MB),
.img (45.6 GB, 85.7 MB) and
KMZ (11.3 MB).
The map was distributed to governmental agencies, particularly to the
State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) and
Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA). In 2013, three-dimensional relief maps of Turkey created by RASAT were offered on the web. Customers are able to order and download their actual map requirements.
As of November 15, 2015, RASAT took images of Earth surface on 22,699 orbits since its launch on August 17, 2011.
A research project, named "Geoportal", was launched by
Ministry of Development on January 15, 2013, with an application run-time of four years.
Images were uploaded on August 19, 2014, to the portal, which is open to use by public services and universities.
As of November 17, 2015, 6,517 processed images captured by RASAT were uploaded to GEZGIN portal.
End of mission
RASAT was retired in August 2022, after operating for 11 years. Over its lifetime, RASAT took 13,362 images over 58,726 orbits.
References
{{TÜBİTAK
Earth observation satellites of Turkey
Spacecraft launched in 2011
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
Spacecraft launched by Dnepr rockets