Cosmic Penguin
Geek Penguin in GTO
While the Russian rocket engine roulette runs wild 3 days ago, yet another satellite escapes from the gunshot in less than a day!
The 7th and final satellite of the Russian military and government use Meridian series, the heir to the very long-running Molniya series of high inclination communication satellites, escape from that doom after liftoff from the Plesetsk cosmodrome pad 43/4 yesterday at 01:42 UTC on a Soyuz-2/Fregat rocket into the famous Molniya orbit (63.4 deg. inclination, 1000 x 40000 km orbit) to continue the replacement of the old satellites of the United System of Satellite Communications 2nd generation (USSC-2).
Remember the cold helium line that sent the last Fregat upper stage and Europe's Galileo satellite navigation program into the wrong way? For the first time since that incident in August, the Fregat stage flies and was immediately tasked with a 2-burn mission separated by more than 2 hours of coasting. Luckily all went well and Meridian 7 is now in its operational orbit! (remember that of these 7, 1 was in a wrong orbit that limited its operations and another simply got dumped back on Earth!)
Before its flight, however, the satellite and Fregat got yet another scare back on Earth! :blink:
So maybe this is yet another lucky survivor of the Russian roulette. Who's next? :uhh:
Here's some information about the satellite:
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PAYLOAD
Meridian #7 (14F112) navigation satellite.
Spacecraft Overview
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.
Meridian satellites reside in Molniya orbits (900 km x 39000 km; 65°)
Characteristics|
Launch Vehicle:
{colsp=2}Characteristics
|
{colsp=2}
Meridian Ascent Profile
The Soyuz rocket will launch eastwards from Plesetsk and deliver the upper composite into a suborbital 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 fires 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 fires again for 10.5 minutes, stretching the orbit into a 290 by 39,500-kilometers ellipse. The satellite and its upper stage then coast to the high point of the orbit, where some seven hours after the launch, the Fregat fires for 15 seconds, rising perigee to 1,000 kilometers. The Meridian satellite and the Fregat upper stage then separate.
Approximate Ground Track Plot
Western part (Northern European Russia):
Eastern part (Western Siberian Russia):
References
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/meridian.html
http://www.kosmonavtika.com/satellites/meridian/meridian.html
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru
http://space.skyrocket.de
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://npopm.ru
http://www.samspace.ru
http://www.laspace.ru
http://www.geomidpoint.com/destination/
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators
http://wap.marsian.borda.ru/?1-3-30-00000001-000-0-0-1171904149
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The 7th and final satellite of the Russian military and government use Meridian series, the heir to the very long-running Molniya series of high inclination communication satellites, escape from that doom after liftoff from the Plesetsk cosmodrome pad 43/4 yesterday at 01:42 UTC on a Soyuz-2/Fregat rocket into the famous Molniya orbit (63.4 deg. inclination, 1000 x 40000 km orbit) to continue the replacement of the old satellites of the United System of Satellite Communications 2nd generation (USSC-2).
Remember the cold helium line that sent the last Fregat upper stage and Europe's Galileo satellite navigation program into the wrong way? For the first time since that incident in August, the Fregat stage flies and was immediately tasked with a 2-burn mission separated by more than 2 hours of coasting. Luckily all went well and Meridian 7 is now in its operational orbit! (remember that of these 7, 1 was in a wrong orbit that limited its operations and another simply got dumped back on Earth!)
Before its flight, however, the satellite and Fregat got yet another scare back on Earth! :blink:
So maybe this is yet another lucky survivor of the Russian roulette. Who's next? :uhh:
Here's some information about the satellite:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAYLOAD
Meridian #7 (14F112) navigation satellite.
Spacecraft Overview
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.
Meridian satellites reside in Molniya orbits (900 km x 39000 km; 65°)
Meridian
Parts diagram:
|
Customer:
|- Russian MoD.
Prime contractor:
|- JSC "Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev Company"
Platform:
|- Uragan-M (?)
Mass at Separation:
|- ?
Dry Mass:
|- ?
Stabilization:
|- 3 axis stabilized
Dimensions:
|- ?
Batteries:
|- ?
Life time:
|- 7 years
Communication Payload:
|Believed to have three high-gain transponders. Another reported payload is low-channel Pritsep duplex communucation payload for navy users, which uses a centimetre-range wavelength.
Launch Vehicle:
Soyuz-2.1a
Prime contractor:
|- Samara Space Sentre (Energia Holding enterprise)
GRAU Index:
|- 14A14
Height:
| 51.1 mDiameter:
| max 10.3 mLiftoff mass:
| 313 metric tonnesPayload mass:
| up to 6830 kg (a launch to LEO from Plesetsk)1st stage (boosters B, V, G, D):
|- 4 X RD-107 engines
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum - / 320.2 s
- Thrust/ISP at sea level 85.6 tonnes / 263.3 s
2nd stage (core A):
|- 1 X RD-108 engine
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum 94 tonnes / 320.6 s
- Thrust/ISP at sea level 80.8 tonnes / 257.7 s
3rd stage (block I):
|- 1 X RD-0110 engine
- Propellants (T-1 Kerosene and LOX)
- Thrust/ISP in vacuum 30.38 tonnes / 326 s
Upper Stage:
|
- GRAU Index: -
- Common Name: Fregat (meaning Frigate)
- Designer & Manufacturer: Lavochkin Association (NPO)
- Dimensions: Length 2.4 m, Diameter (max) 3.350 m
- Empty Mass 930 kg
- Propellants 5250 kg max
- Main Engine: 1 X S5.92
- Thrust in vacuum 2.0 tonnes of force (full power)
- Thrust in vacuum 1.4 tonnes of force (small power)
- ISP 333.2 s
Payload Fairing:
|- Diameter 3.7 m
- Length 7.7 m
Meridian Ascent Profile
The Soyuz rocket will launch eastwards from Plesetsk and deliver the upper composite into a suborbital 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 fires 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 fires again for 10.5 minutes, stretching the orbit into a 290 by 39,500-kilometers ellipse. The satellite and its upper stage then coast to the high point of the orbit, where some seven hours after the launch, the Fregat fires for 15 seconds, rising perigee to 1,000 kilometers. The Meridian satellite and the Fregat upper stage then separate.
Approximate Ground Track Plot
Western part (Northern European Russia):
Eastern part (Western Siberian Russia):
References
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/meridian.html
http://www.kosmonavtika.com/satellites/meridian/meridian.html
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com
http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru
http://space.skyrocket.de
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com
http://npopm.ru
http://www.samspace.ru
http://www.laspace.ru
http://www.geomidpoint.com/destination/
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators
http://wap.marsian.borda.ru/?1-3-30-00000001-000-0-0-1171904149
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