Operator
Korolev Aviation InstituteManufacturer
Korolev Aviation InstituteResurs-F Mission
5/25/1989
Pion is an ELINT and SAR imaging satellite capable of guiding Russian Navy missiles to their targets.
Pion uses its SIGINT capability to locate naval assets, which are then imaged by its SAR system.
Russia launched the Pion satellite in 2021 to provide SIGINT-cued synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capability for the Russian Navy.