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The 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.

In 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.

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.

Two and half years later, during the coverage of the second Meridian launch, the head of NPO PM (then remaned ISS Reshetnev) Nikolai Testoedov told Russian media that the first Meridian satellite failed before the end of its projected lifespan. He blamed a collision with space junk for the premature demise of the spacecraft.

Second Meridian satellite flies

Russia launched its second spacecraft from the Meridian series of military communications satellites. The Soyuz-2 rocket lifted off on May 22, 2009, at 01:53 Moscow Time (00:53:33 Moscow Decree Time) from Pad 4 at Site 43 in Plesetsk, carrying a second Meridian satellite. This launch was previously expected at the end of 2008 and in April 2009.

According to the official Russian sources, the launch vehicle successfully delivered the satellite into orbit at 04:13 Moscow Time. The spacecraft established contact with the ground and its systems worked well, the Russian space forces reported. However, western radar found the Meridian and its Fregat upper stage in the 275 by 36,473 and 191 by 36,377-kilometer orbits. Independent observers noticed that these parameters, especially perigee, were considerably lower than those of the original Meridian satellite, inserted into a 1,009 by 39,818-kilometer orbit. Also, the perigee of the spacecraft was within a range of altitudes, where the friction of the upper atmosphere could quickly degrade the satellite's orbit, unless maneuvers to raise it were taken urgently.

A respectable source on the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum reported that preliminary data indicated the shutdown of the third stage of the launch vehicle three seconds earlier than planned. The Fregat upper stage apparently made an attempt to compensate the underperformance of the third stage with its own extended burn, until it run out of propellant.

Still, on May 25, 2009, the satellite's manufacturer ISS Reshetnev (former NPO PM) issued a press-release declaring the launch a success. According to the company, the Meridian satellite had entered orbit, which was close to planned. Such wording possibly indicated that the spacecraft had enough propellant to enter operational orbit.

The announcement also said that the deployment of solar panels and antennas was successful and one hour and eight minutes after the launch, the spacecraft established its orientation toward Earth. All onboard system performed without problems and engineers of ISS Reshetnev initiated checks and tests of the satellite before transferring it to its customer for operational work during the spacecraft's planned lifespan, the company's statement said.

According to the head of ISS Reshetnev Nikolai Testoedov, a projected lifespan of the Meridian satellite had been extended to seven years and a number of transponders onboard the spacecraft had been increased, enabling it to "replace" 12 satellites of the Molniya series and save considerable government funds.

As it transpired in the first half of June 2009, the investigation commission traced the problem to an erroneous input of data about the payload into the flight program, as a result of poor interaction between the customer and the developer. It led to overuse of propellant during the first and second burns of the Fregat upper stage (not the third stage of the Molniya rocket as was originally reported.) At the end of the second burn of the Fregat engine, it was shut down prematurely based on the propellant level data. Fortunately, the third (aborted) engine burn was expected to be very short, consuming the amount of propellant just enough to ignite the main engine. The problem during the insertion triggered the separation of the upper stage and its payload, as it was designed in case of emergency.

Third Meridian mission

Continuing an ever increasing pace of its space program, Russia made a third attempt to orbit its newest generation satellite for military communications.

A Soyuz-2-1a rocket with the Fregat upper stage lifted off from Pad No. 4 at Site 43 in Plesetsk on Nov. 2, 2010, at 03:59 Moscow Time. Two minutes later, Russia's ground control network started tracking the vehicle, which successfully reached its initial orbit, official military sources said. According the Ministry of Defense spokesman, the separation of the payload from the upper stage was scheduled for 06:13 Moscow Time, as vehicles would be orbiting the Earth within communication range of the ground control network.

The Zvezda military TV channel and other official Russian sources identified the payload as Meridian. Unofficial posters on the online forum of Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine reported that deployable elements onboard the satellite were successfully released and the spacecraft has established an orientation toward the Sun, thus ensuring its operational status.

Two previous Meridian missions were previously confirmed as failures.

In the post-launch interview with Zvezda channel, Aleksandr Kirilin, the head of TsSKB Progress said that the mission concluded the test flight program of the Soyuz-2-1a launch vehicle, clearing the way to the formal acceptance of the rocket into the armaments of the Russian military.

Russia launches fourth Meridian spacecraft

Military personnel at the nation's northern launch site sent a latest-generation communications satellite into orbit Wednesday.

A Soyuz-2-1a rocket with the Fregat upper stage lifted off from Plesetsk on May 4, 2011, at 21:41:33 Moscow Summer Time carrying Meridian No. 4 satellite.

According to the planned flight profile, first three stages of the vehicle would release the Fregat along with its payload on a ballistic trajectory ten minutes after the liftoff.

The Fregat would then fire its engine for 13 seconds to enter an initial 203-kilometer parking orbit with an inclination 62.8 degrees toward the Equator. Then, after almost a half-an-hour coasting flight, Fregat's engine would fire again to boost the apogee (highest point) of the orbit to an altitude of nearly 36,000 kilometers above the Earth surface. Finally, the third firing would lift the perigee (the lowest point) of the orbit to almost 1,000 kilometers, where the satellite was expected to be released at 23:59:23 Moscow Time on May 4, 2011. Free from its cargo, the Fregat upper stage would then fire its engine one last time to obtain a safe distance from the satellite.

Summary of Meridian No. 4's planned mission maneuvers*:

*An inclination of the satellite's orbit was expected to remain at 62.8 degrees; **Beginning of the engine firing according to Moscow Summer Time;

Soon after midnight on May 5, 2011, official Russian media confirmed that the Meridian satellite had successfully separated from the launch vehicle at 23:59 and ground control had established contact with the spacecraft.

As of January 2011, this mission was expected at the end of April 2011.

Fifth bird for Meridian constellation fails to reach orbit

A Russian military launch of a fresh satellite for a latest communications network failed.

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Fregat upper stage lifted off from Pad 4 at Site 43 in Plesetsk on Dec. 23, 2011, at 16:08 Moscow Time.

A complete list of Meridian launches*:

*All launches from Plesetsk, Site 43, Pad 4 on the Soyuz 2/Fregat rocket.

This page is maintained by Anatoly Zak

Last update: December 24, 2011

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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

The third Meridian satellite lifts off on Nov. 2, 2010. Credit: Zvezda TV channel