Russian developer of small satellite platforms and systems SPUTNIX Company has launched the country’s first private Earth remote sensing satellite, TabletSat-Aurora, on-board ISC Kosmotras’ RS-20 rocket (Dnepr).

The satellite launched as part of a cluster of small spacecraft lifted off onboard the Dnepr on 20 June.

SPUTNIX’s new satellite is expected to receive data from the microsatellite sent to a SCANEX ground network UniScan. Data will be used in commercial, scientific, educational and environmental projects.

"Data will be used in commercial, scientific, educational and environmental projects."

Speaking about the development, ISC Kosmotras CEO Alexander Serkin said: "We have an opportunity to participate in the implementation of a private space project in Russia. And we are certainly proud to be a part of this event."

After TabletSat-Aurora’s ascent to orbit, subsystems developed by the company will be tested, with first signal from the spacecraft already received, SPUTNIX said.

TabletSat-Aurora weighs 26kg, with minimum designed life expectancy of one year. It is equipped with a high-accuracy tri-axial orientation and stabilisation system, as well as an optical camera for Earth imaging from space, with resolution of 15m per pixel.

SPUTNIX CTO Stanislav Karpenko said: "The company consider TabletSat-Aurora as a universal platform for placement of scientific and commercial applications payloads."

The satellite platform and majority of systems and equipment were developed by SPUTNIX; financial support was provided by the Skolkovo and ISC Kosmotras.

In 2012, SPUTNIX, a daughter firm of the SCANEX, received a grant from the Skolkovo space cluster. The company took eight months to develop and prepare a microsatellite for the launch.

Defence Technology