OREANDA-NEWS. March 3, 2009. Development of the Chibis-M scientific microsatellite with mass of 40kg is almost completed in the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Two Chibis options are prepared. One will study thunderstorms in the Earth atmosphere. The other one is intended for global monitoring of the greenhouse gases", says Zaitsev.

The "thunderstorm" Chibis will be delivered to LEO onboard the Progress cargo spaceship. The payloads will include X-ray gamma-detector, UV-detector, RF-analyser, digital optical camera, and a set of plasma wave devices.