Meteor-M 2

Spacecraft nº:

Russian spacecraft nº:

Launch data: Designation  40069 / 14037A Launch date  08 Jul 2014 - 15:58 UT Launch site  Baik, LC-31/6 Launch vehicle  Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M Mission  Meteorologey, Weather Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  819 x 828 km Eccentricity   Inclination   98.79° Period  101.37 min

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  NPP VNIIEM Platform   Operator   Mass at launch  2700 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment   Solar array  2 deployable solar arrays Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power   Design lifetime  5 yrs

Ref.41

Description:

• Meteor-M satellites are a new generation of russian meteorological satellites to replace the Meteor-3M series. The Meteor-M 2 satellite will feature following instruments:
  • MSU-MR - Global and regional for cloud cover mapping
  • KMSS - multichannel scanning unit for Earth surface monitoring
  • MTVZA - imager/sounder for Atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, sea surface wind
  • IRFS-2 - advanced IR sounder for Atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles
  • Severjanin - SAR for Ice monitoring
  • Radiomet- - radio occulation unit for Atmospheric temperature and pressure profiles.
• METEOR M2 was designed to watch global weather, the ozone layer, the ocean surface temperature and ice conditions to facilitate shipping in polar regions and to monitor radiation environment in the near-Earth space. The satellite was designed to operate in orbit for five years. It will become the second spacecraft in the Meteor-3M network, complementing the Meteor-M No. 1 satellite, which was launched on Sept. 17, 2009.

Mission details:

• On Jul 8 2014 at 1558 UTC Russia launched a Soyuz-2-1B with a Fregat upper stage. The Blok-I stage entered a 183 x 198 km orbit; the Fregat then maneuvered to 191 x 813 km and 818 x 828 km x 98.8 deg, where it deployed the Meteor-M No. 2 weather satellite in an 0900LTDN SSO.
• The Fregat then restarted at 1736 UTC to enter a 638 x 825 km orbit, ejected a payload adapter frame and the Relek (MKA-FKI) satellite which will study relativistic electrons in the magnetosphere. A further burn to 635 x 635 km was followed by deployment at 1828 to 1832 UTC of the TDS-1, SkySat-2, DX-1, AISSat-2, and UKube-1 satellites. A mass model of Canada's M3MSat was also ejected; the actual M3MSat was pulled from the launch following the Ukraine crisis.
• At 1926 UTC the Fregat stage made a deorbit burn to 14 x 665 km and reentered over the S Pacific at about 2010 UTC. The Blok-I third stage reentered over southern Australia at 1142 UTC on Jul 10 in a widely observed fireball.

External links:

• DK3wn - Mike Ruppread: Satellite Information
• EOportal.org Satellite description
• Satellite tracking (n2ya.com): Real time satellite tracking