BelKA or BKA (an acronym from

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

: Беларускі Касмічны Апарат, Belarusian Cosmic Apparatus) is the first satellite of independent

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

First attempt

It was a

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 that utilizes the

USP (satellite bus) The USP, for Universal Space Platform (; ), also known as Viktoria (), is a highly flexible satellite bus designed and manufactured by RSC Energia. It is called universal because it has been designed to be operated from LEO to GEO. It is a three a ...

, developed by Belarusian researchers and Russian Rocket and Space Corporation

RSC Energia S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the first chief o ...

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 19:43 GMT, however 86 seconds later, the Dnepr

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

suffered an engine failure and crashed, destroying the satellites. The name BelKA is thought to be an allusion to the

Soviet space dog During the 1950s and 1960s the Soviet space program used dogs for sub-orbital and orbital space flights to determine whether human spaceflight was feasible. The Soviet space program typically used female dogs due to their anatomical compat ...

Belka BelKA or BKA (an acronym from Belarusian: Беларускі Касмічны Апарат, Belarusian Cosmic Apparatus) is the first satellite of independent Belarus. First attempt It was a remote sensing satellite that utilizes the USP (satel ...

, who, together with

Strelka Strelka may refer to: Places * Strelka (inhabited locality), several inhabited localities in Russia including: ** Strelka, Amur Oblast ** Strelka, Lesosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai ** Strelka, Vologda Oblast ** Strelka, Voronezh Oblast * a small cap ...

orbited the Earth and returned safely on

Sputnik 5 Korabl-Sputnik 2 (), also known as Sputnik 5 in the West, was a Soviet artificial satellite, and the third test flight of the Vostok spacecraft. It was the first spaceflight to send animals into orbit and return them safely back to Earth, incl ...

in 1960. * Configuration: Victoria bus * Outcome: Carrier rocket failure, satellite destroyed

Second attempt

The second launch () was successful. It was launched together with the Russian satellite on the

Soyuz-FG The Soyuz-FG was an improved variant of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle from the R-7 (rocket family), R-7 rocket family, developed by the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia. It featured upgraded first and second stage engines, RD-107A and ...

Fregat Fregat () is an upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin for universal compatibility with a wide range of medium- and heavy-lift launch vehicles. Fregat has been used primarily with Soyuz and Zenit rockets, and entered operational service in ...

launch vehicle from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

on July 22, 2012, after a long delay. Belarus put the blame for the delay onto British software. It was planned to be operational until the end of 2021.Беларусь и космос: глава Академии наук о новом спутнике, экспериментах и технологиях
/ref>

References

{{Orbital launches in 2012 Earth imaging satellites Spacecraft launched in 2006 Satellites of Belarus Spacecraft launched by Dnepr rockets Satellite launch failures 2006 in Belarus Space accidents and incidents in Kazakhstan