Meridian (Russian: Меридиан) is a family of telecommunications satellites for civil and military use developed by Russia in the 2000s, placed in a Molniya Orbit , and intended to replace the two last series of Molniya satellites still in activity, as well as the old Parus satellites. The first launch took place on 24 December 2006, aboard a Soyuz 2.1a. Seven satellites were launched between 2006 and 2014, six of which reached orbit. A second generation of satellite, Meridian-M, was ordered, and the first unit was launched on 30 July 2019.
18-550: Molniya (Russian for lightning ) may refer to: Molniya (satellite) , a Soviet military communications satellite Molniya orbit Molniya (explosive trap) , a KGB explosive device Molniya (rocket) , a variation of the Soyuz launch vehicle OKB-4 Molniya , an experimental design bureau responsible for the Molniya R-60 and Vympel R-73 air-to-air missiles NPO Molniya ,
36-719: A Soviet design bureau responsible for the Shuttle Buran programme Molnija , a Russian watch and clockmaker Molniya, a project of the Tarantul class corvette Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Molniya . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Molniya&oldid=900406126 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
54-555: A design flaw in the release mechanism. Publicly referred to as Kosmos 41 , it nonetheless operated for nine months. The first operational satellite, Molniya 1-1, was successfully launched on 23 April 1965. By 30 May 1966, the third Molniya 1 had taken the first images of the whole Earth in history. The early Molniya-1 satellites were designed for television, telegraph and telephone across Russia, but they were also fitted with cameras used for weather monitoring, and possibly for assessing clear areas for Zenit spy satellites . The system
72-536: A large part of their orbit visible from Arctic areas poorly served by geostationary telecommunications orbits. The launcher used is a Soyuz 2.1a with a Fregat upper stage, which is launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The satellite is for mixed civil and military use. Given their orbit, they are mainly intended to provide links with ships and planes operating in the Arctic Ocean, as well as with stations based in
90-514: A long dwell time over high latitudes. They are suited for communications purposes in polar regions, in the same way that geostationary satellites are used for equatorial regions. There were 164 Molniya satellites launched, all in Molniya orbits with the exception of Molniya 1S which was launched into geostationary orbit for testing purposes. In the early 1960s, when Europe and America were establishing geostationary communication satellites ,
108-568: A result, OKB-1 sought to find a more optimal orbit for the satellite. Studies found that this could be achieved using a large elliptical orbit, with an apogee over Russian territory. The satellite's name, "quick as lightning", is in reference to the speed with which it passes through the perigee. Molniya series satellites were replaced (succeeded) by the Meridian series , with the first launch in 2006. As of 2023 , there are currently 36 Molniya satellites left in orbit. The Molniya programme
126-616: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Molniya (satellite) The Molniya (Russian: Молния , IPA: [ˈmolnʲɪjə] , "Lightning") series satellites were military and communications satellites launched by the Soviet Union from 1965 to 1991, and by the Russian Federation from 1991 to 2004. These satellites used highly eccentric elliptical orbits known as Molniya orbits , which have
144-556: The oblateness of the Earth perturbs the argument of perigee ( ω {\displaystyle \omega } ), so that even if the apogee started near the north pole, it would gradually move unless constantly corrected with station-keeping thruster burns. Keeping the dwell point over Russia, and useful for communications necessitated without excessive fuel use meant that the satellites needed an inclination of 63.4° , for which these perturbations are zero. Similarly, to ensure
162-582: The Far East and Siberia. The first satellite in the series quickly fell victim to space debris, according to the Russian authorities. The numbering of the satellites is quite specific. The manufacturer ISS Rechetnev begins numbering its satellites at 11, the first numbers being reserved for test specimens. The letter L is attached to the number to indicate that it is a flying copy (лётный in Russian). Thus,
180-520: The KAUR-2 bus, launching solely from Plesetsk. Earlier models were used for civilian communications in a similar orbit, but different purpose, to the military-only Molniya-1 satellites. From 1980s they were used by the military, and by the 1990s they were operated in the same manner as the Molniya 1 satellites. A total of 53 Molniya 3 series satellites were launched, with the last one going up in 2003. A typical Molniya series satellite, has: In general,
198-536: The Russians found these orbits unsuitable. They were limited in the amount of rocket power available and it is extremely energy intensive to both launch a satellite to 40,000 km, and change its inclination to be over the equator, especially when launched from Russia. Additionally geostationary satellites give poor coverage in polar regions. A large portion of Russian territory consists of polar regions, making this arrangement further unfavorable to Russian interests. As
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#1732771879729216-712: The Uragan-M satellites of the Glonass satellite navigation system. The manufacturer indicated that the satellites of the series have a mass of approximately 2000 kg, have orientable solar arrays, and carry three transponders designed to work with the Raduga satellites. The lifespan announced by the manufacturer was 7 years. Like its predecessors, the Meridian satellites are placed in a very elliptical Molniya orbit of 900 × 39000 km x 63°, which allows them to remain during
234-424: The eccentricity to become approximately 0.737. Meridian (satellite) This family of satellites was developed in the mid-2000s by the main Russian satellite manufacturer, ISS Reshetnev , who had already built the Molniya satellites. According to unofficial sources, the satellite uses 3 axes stabilized pressurized platform. Certain components, like the on-board computer and the propulsion, would be common with
252-401: The ground track repeats every 24 hours the nodal period needed to be half a sidereal day . To maximise the dwell time the eccentricity, the differences in altitudes of the apogee and perigee, had to be large . However, the perigee needed to be far enough above the atmosphere to avoid drag, and the orbital period needed to be approximately half a sidereal day. These two factors constrained
270-418: The last going up in 2004. The first Molniya 2 satellites were tested from 1971 with the first operational satellite launching in 1974 from Plesetsk . The used the same satellite bus and basic design as later model Molniya 1 satellites, but with an expanded number of users under the military's Unified System of Satellite Communications (YeSSS) program . Development was difficult because the final satellite bus
288-504: Was authorized on 30 October 1961 and design was handled by OKB-1. They were based on the KAUR-2 satellite bus , with design finishing in 1963. The first launch took place on 4 June 1964 and ended in failure when the 8K78 booster core stage lost thrust 287 seconds into launch due to a jammed servo motor. The next attempt was on 22 August 1964 and reached orbit successfully, but the parabolic communications antennas did not properly deploy due to
306-539: Was operational by 1967, with the construction of the Orbita groundstations. They had a lifespan of approximately 1.5 years, as their orbits were disrupted by perturbations , as well as deteriorating solar arrays and they had to be constantly replaced. By the 1970s, the Molniya 1 series (and the upgrade Molniya 1T ) was mostly used for military communications, with civilian communications moving to Molniya 2. In total 94 Molniya 1 series satellites were launched, with
324-533: Was unpressurized, changing their selection of radios. These satellites were used in the Soviet national Orbita television network , which had been established a few years earlier in 1967. Only seventeen Molniya 2 series satellite were launched, as they were soon superseded by the Molniya 3. Originally called the Molniya-2M , their development began in 1972, with launches from 1974. They were also based on
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