News and events

November 5, the Soyuz-2.1b rocket was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. It sent into space the first Russian-Chinese satellite designed by students.

"This day, a carrier rocket launched a unique international satellite developed by students of the Amur State University and the Harbin Institute of Technology into the Earth's orbit from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. This is the first Russian-Chinese student satellite. I am sure that there will be many more such joint projects. I thank everyone who works at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. We are very proud of you," said Vasily Orlov.

The Russian-Chinese university satellite DRUZHBA-ATURK has been under development for several years as part of the Russian-Chinese space cooperation program. The main payload on it is a high-resolution camera and the Photon-Amur module. The high-resolution camera is a development of the Harbin Institute of Technology. From a distance of 500 kilometres above the Earth, it can capture a detailed area of 2.5 metres. The AmSU has developed the Photon-Amur module, which allows studying the impact of space factors on the operation of photovoltaic converters. The material for photovoltaic converters (nanofilms) was obtained by young scientists of the Amur State University in the Laboratory of Surface Physics of the K. E. Tsiolkovsky Research and Education Centre.

"Photovoltaic converters are an integral part of any solar panel. The efficiency of the panel depends largely on the material from which the photovoltaic converters are made. We plan to use our development in space. Currently, solar panels based on gallium arsenide compounds are used in space in low-Earth orbits. They have high efficiency, but they are expensive. Our material, if it is successfully tested, will significantly reduce satellite production costs," explained Dmitry Fomin, Director of the K. E. Tsiolkovsky Research and Education Centre.