On July 22, Minsk / Olga Belyavskaya - BELTA /. The Belarusian Earth remote sensing satellite was launched today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, BELTA correspondent reports. The launch took place at 9:41 AM Minsk time. The Belarusian spacecraft (BKA) was launched into space in a cluster of five spacecraft, along with the Russian spacecraft "Kanopus-V", the Russian MKA-FKI ("Zond-PP"), the German TET-1, and the Canadian ADS-1B. In approximately 43 minutes, the Belarusian satellite will be placed into an orbit close to its operational orbit, which is about 500-520 km, by the Soyuz-FG space rocket with the Fregat upper stage. The Belarusian spacecraft will provide full coverage of the territory of Belarus with space imagery. Its weight is about 400 kg, and its resolution in the panchromatic range is about 2 m. The BKA has high dynamic characteristics, meaning it is maneuverable and can quickly adjust its orbit to capture imagery at the required angle. Thanks to the satellite launch, Belarus will be able to create an independent Earth remote sensing system, which will allow it to dispense with the services of other states for obtaining and processing space information. Mikhail Zakharevich, Senior Researcher at the Scientific Research Unit of the State Enterprise "Geoinformation Systems" of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, specified the exact time that will pass from the satellite launch to its orbit insertion, which is 2,674 seconds. "The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and the peculiarity is that it must ensure a retrograde orbit inclination for all deployed spacecraft," he noted. "This means that the inclination must be greater than 90 degrees, so we are launching not with the Earth's rotation, but against it, and the energy expenditure is accordingly higher." According to the expert, approximately 5 seconds after the separation of the upper stage from the launch vehicle, the main engines of the upper stage are activated, and it places the cluster of spacecraft into a transfer orbit – this is the first active phase. "Then follows the second active phase, which places the upper stage into the separation orbit, and the Belarusian spacecraft separates first," he added. "This is because the Russian spacecraft 'Kanopus-V' must fly in the same orbit but out of phase with our spacecraft. Therefore, it separates second and is given a negative velocity impulse."