Russian company Sputniks has announced plans to create Earth remote sensing (ERS) satellites with a spatial imaging resolution of up to 0.5 meters. General Director of the company Georgy Alyoshkin told TASS about this. According to him, new-generation spacecraft will be able to distinguish objects the size of a car and determine their dimensions, color, and other visual parameters. The announcement was made on October 17, 2026, and confirms the company's course toward the gradual improvement of orbital imaging detail.
Next Step: Launching Kinosputnik
The first practical step within the stated strategy will be the launch of the Kinosputnik satellite, equipped with a camera capable of operating in multispectral and panchromatic modes. The spatial resolution of this device will be 0.8 meters. "If the satellite that is about to fly has a camera with a resolution of 0.8 m, then our next camera is 0.5 m," Alyoshkin explained, outlining a clear sequence for hardware base development. Thus, Kinosputnik acts as a transitional link between the company's current capabilities and the target level of detail.
What a 0.5-Meter Resolution Will Change
The transition from sub-meter to half-meter resolution significantly expands the range of tasks solved by space imaging means. At a resolution of 0.5 m, the satellite is capable of singling out individual cars, assessing their dimensions and color identification, which opens up opportunities for monitoring traffic flows, controlling construction, inventorying equipment in open areas, and a number of other applied tasks. The multispectral mode claimed for Kinosputnik additionally makes it possible to analyze the state of vegetation cover, water bodies, and industrial areas using spectral signatures unavailable in the ordinary visible range.
Digital Twins as an Applied Product
The company calls the development of the ERS constellation for state and commercial customers one of its priority areas of activity. The obtained orbital data, according to Sputniks, is planned to be used to create digital twins — virtual models of objects and territories that allow analyzing their state and processes occurring in the real world. Digital twins built on regular satellite imagery provide the customer with a tool for dynamic monitoring: from tracking landscape changes to assessing infrastructure status in near-real-time.
Pilot Projects with AFK Sistema
According to Georgy Alyoshkin, the company is already implementing pilot projects with enterprises belonging to the AFK Sistema holding. Among the industries where joint work is underway, he named the forestry sector and telecommunications. In the forestry sector, ERS data is traditionally used to inventory forest areas, monitor clearcuttings, and assess the condition of plantations; in the telecommunications sphere, satellite imagery is used for infrastructure planning and territory analysis. The presence of ongoing pilot projects indicates that the stated roadmap for increasing resolution has already been tested on real commercial tasks.
Context: Competition in the Sub-Meter ERS Market
The announcement by Sputniks fits into the general trend of increasing the detail of commercial and state ERS satellite constellations. Sub-meter and half-meter resolution has already become the standard for a number of foreign operators, and Russian companies in recent years have been actively building up their own orbital capacities to provide the domestic market with up-to-date data without dependence on foreign providers. Sputniks' strategy — the phased increase in resolution from 0.8 m to 0.5 m and beyond — implies that the company intends to anchor itself in the niche of high-precision orbital imaging for both state and commercial tasks.
