Meridian (satellite)

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 2008 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.[1]

Technical characteristics

This family of satellites is 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 the Uragan-M satellites of the Glonass satellite navigation system. The manufacturer indicated that the satellites of the series with 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 is 7 years.[2]

Orbit and use

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 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 the Far East and Siberia.[3]

List of satellites launched

The first satellite in the series quickly fell victim to space debris according to the Russian authorities. It remains in orbit.

The numbering of the satellites is quite specific. The manufacturer ISS Rechetnyov 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, the first satellite is called Meridian n°11L.

Last update: 1 March 2020

Satellite Launcher/

Upper Stage

Launch time
(UTC)
Launch base Success COSPAR ID Notes
Meridian n°11L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat

24 December 2006

08:34

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

2006-061A Hit by space debris

First Meridian satellite in orbit.

Meridian n°12L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat

21 May 2009

21:53

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

~ 2009-029A Partial Success : Perigee lower than planned.
Meridian n°13L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

2 November 2010

03:01

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

2010-058A
Meridian n°14L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

4 May 2011

17:41

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

2011-018A
Meridian n°15L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

23 December 2011

12:08

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

Failure : Launch failed, Meridian crashed in Altai.
Meridian n°16L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

14 November 2012

11:43

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

2012-063A
Meridian n°17L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

30 October 2014

01:43

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

2014-069A Last flight of a first generation satellite.
Meridian-M n°18L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

30 July 2019

05:56

Site 43/4

Plesetsk

2019-046A First flight of the modernized Meridian-M version.
Meridian-M n°19L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

20 February 2020

08:24

Site 43/3

Plesetsk

2020-015B First flight from Site 43/3.
Meridian-M n°20L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

Mid 2020 Site 43/?

Plesetsk

-
Meridian-M n°21L Soyuz 2.1a

Fregat-M

Early 2022 Site 43/?

Plesetsk

- Last Meridian-M ordered.

References

  1. "Kosmonavtika – par Nicolas Pillet". kosmonavtika.com (in French). Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  2. Anatoly Zak. "Meridian". Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  3. "Kosmonavtika – par Nicolas Pillet". kosmonavtika.com (in French). Retrieved 16 February 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.