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According to official Russian media, the Meridian satellite was designed to provide communications between ships and aircraft operating in the Arctic Ocean, as well as ground-based stations in Siberia and the Russian Far East. The Russian government also confirmed the satellite's military role, replacing Molniya-1, Molniya-3 and Parus spacecraft.Meridian programThe Russian government displayed considerable openness with the project, providing the actual name of the satellite, instead of faceless Cosmos designation with a number, routinely applied to military missions. Even stylized images of the spacecraft published on pocket calendars dated to 2005 circulated on the Internet. In the middle of 2006, the Russian government released a transcript of the Security Council meeting in Kremlin, which quoted Russian Ministry of Defense Sergei Ivanov as saying that flight tests of the new Meridian spacecraft were scheduled for no later than the 4th quarter of 2006, with the goal of upgrading the telecommunications segment of the military command and control system. (Transcript Moscow, Kremlin, June 20, 2006) According to unofficial postings on the web, the Meridian satellite is equipped with a pressurized service module and a three-axis attitude control system. Some of the systems, including onboard flight control computer and propulsion might be similar to those developed for the Uragan-M navigation satellite. The spacecraft also sports solar panels capable of rotating themselves toward the sun, along a single axis. Both, Uragan and Meridian satellites were developed at NPO PM in Zheleznogorsk, where the latter project apparently originated back in 1978. NPO PM developed absolute majority of Russian spacecraft for telecommunications and navigation, both military and civilian. As with Uragan satellites, the production of operational Meridian satellites was apparently subcontracted to PO Polyot in the city of Omsk. During several aerospace exhibitions in Russia circa 2001, the organization released a photo of a satellite, which was advertised as “new” Molniya, which is a communications satellite, operating in the highly elliptical orbit. At the time, sources at PO Polyot told reporter with the Kommersant newspaper Ivan Safronov that the spacecraft had already been built but had little chance of getting off the ground due to lack of funds. Pre-launch processing The spacecraft arrived to Plesetsk on November 10, 2006, and its pre-flight testing was taking place at the assembly and processing building of Site 43 in Plesetsk, according to the official ITAR TASS news agency. The launch was previously expected on Dec 8, 2006, but rumored problems with the processing hardware forced a delay to Dec. 22, 2006. In mid-December 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Plesetsk, including a processing area, where Meridian's launch vehicle was being prepared for launch. The original launch attempt on Dec. 22, 2006, at 11:43:29 Moscow Time was canceled at the beginning of the day, due to a technical glitch in the countdown and winds at high altitude exceeding 20 meters per second. According to reports from Plesetsk, a problem with power supply to Site 43 required a switch to power generators and caused the launch control computer to freeze. On Dec. 23, 2006, the launch was postponed for another 24 hours, when the hold in the countdown of the Fregat upper stage exceeded an allowable 30-minute period by several extra minutes. Russia inaugurates a new communications satelliteIn a latest bid to revive its space assets, Russia launched a new-generation communications satellite. The Soyuz-2-1a/Fregat rocket blasted off from Pad 4 at Site 43 from the country’s northern cosmodrome in Plesetsk, on December 24, 2006, at 11:34 Moscow Time, carrying the Meridian satellite. The spacecraft was expected to reach its final orbit at 18:35 Moscow Time. According to a posting on the forum of Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine, the third stage of the Soyuz rocket released the payload section along with Fregat upper stage on a ballistic trajectory with the apogee of 204 kilometers and the perigee of eight kilometers. 60 seconds after separation from the third stage, the Fregat upper stage fired for the first time, entering the initial circular orbit with the altitude of 203 kilometers. 49.5 minutes after the launch, the Fregat's engine fired again for 10.5 minutes, stretching the orbit into a 290 by 39,500-kilometers ellipse. The satellite and its upper stage then coasted to the high point of the orbit, where some seven hours after the launch, the Fregat fired for 15 seconds, rising perigee to 1,000 kilometers. The Meridian satellite and the Fregat upper stage then separated.Several hours after launch, the AVN Interfax news agency announced that the satellite successfully reached its orbit and established reliable communications with the Main Spacecraft Testing and Control Center of the Russian Space Forces, KVR. A spokesman for the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, confirmed RIA Novosti that all elements of the spacecraft had deployed. However, to unofficial reports, the Meridian was yet to use its own engines to enter its final operational orbit. The satellite's 1,012 by 39,816-kilometer orbit required 12 hours, 7 minutes, 23 seconds for a single rotation around Earth, which was similar to the orbital parameters of Molniya satellites. High axis of the orbit was positioned over the northern hemisphere, enabling communications antennas in the northern regions of Russia "see" the spacecraft high in the sky for extended periods of time. On January 22, 2007, the commander of the Space Forces, Col. General Vladimir Popovkin told Interfax AVN news agency that the Meridian satellite could enter operational service on February 1, 2007, which would be earlier than scheduled. On February 1, 2007, ITAR TASS confirmed that the satellite did enter operational service. Previous mission of the Soyuz-2 rocket: Metop Next mission of the Soyuz-2 rocket: COROT |
Various stylized depictions of the Meridian satellite have circulated on the web before its first launch. Credit: KVR/Ivan Safronov/Novosti Kosmonavtiki
A photo, apparently depicting the Meridian satellite. Credit: Ivan Safronov/Novosti Kosmonavtiki
The Soyuz-2-1a rocket for the Meridian satellite during pre-launch processing in Plesetsk. Credit: Channel I of the Russian TV
The Fregat upper stage for the Meridian satellite during pre-launch processing in Plesetsk. Credit: Channel I of the Russian TV
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