Molniya 1

USSR



Means "flash of lightning" in Russian

Soviet telecomunication program. Satellites are placed on very excentric orbits (460/40000 km, inclination: 63°, satellites in 8 planes separated by 45°) with a 12 hours period. Such satellites remain almost 8 hours above the CIS, slowly drifting high in the sky.

Molniya satellites are used by the Orbita network equipped with 12 m antennas. Mars transportable stations could also use the network with 7 m antennas. Mission: provide long distance reliable telephone and TV links. Molniya-1 are used for government and military communications whereas Molniya-3 are used for TV programs.

The first satellite operated at 1.0/0.8 GHz. C-band (6/4 GHz) was introduced from Molniya 1-07 on. Satellites also use L-band.

As the first Molniya 2 satellites were launched the system became available for Intersputnik. In the future, the system could be replaced by Mayak

Specifications:

Prime contractorNPO PM (design OKB-1)
Operator:  
Configuratation:KAUR-2
Type / Application:Communication
PlatformMolniya
Mass at launch 
Mass in orbit1600 kg
Dimension 
Solar array1500 W
Stabilizationspin stabilized
DC powerBOL: 1000 W
Design lifetime2 years

X-band:

Main transponders1 to 3
Backup transponders 
Power40 W (TWTA)
Bandwidth 
Coverage 
Polarization 

 

Satellite Date LS   Launcher Remarks:
Molniya-1 04.06.1964 B  F Molniya  
Cosmos-41 22.08.1964 B   Molniya  Engineering test
Molniya-1 1 23.04.1965 B   Molniya  
Molniya-1 2 13.10.1965 B   Molniya  
Molniya-1 27.03.1966 B, LC31  F Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 3 25.04.1966 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 4 20.10.1966 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 5 24.05.1967 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Cosmos 174 31.08.1967 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 6 03.10.1967 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 7 22.10.1967 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 8 21.04.1968 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 9 05.07.1968 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 10 05.10.1968 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Cosmos 260 16.12.1968 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 11 11.04.1969 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 12 22.07.1969 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 13 19.02.1970 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 14 26.06.1970 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 15 29.09.1970 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 16 27.11.1970 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 17 25.12.1970 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 18 28.07.1971 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 19 19.12.1971 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 20 04.04.1972 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 21 14.10.1972 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 22 02.12.1972 B   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 23 03.02.1973 b   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 24 30.08.1973 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 25 14.11.1973 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 26 30.11.1973 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 27 20.04.1974 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 28 24.10.1974 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 29 29.04.1975 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 30 05.06.1975 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 31 02.09.1975 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 32 22.01.1976 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 33 11.03.1976 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 34 19.03.1976 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 35 23.07.1976 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 36 24.03.1977 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 37 24.06.1977 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 38 30.08.1977 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 39 02.03.1978 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 40 02.06.1978 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 41 14.07.1978 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 42 22.08.1978 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 43 12.04.1979 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 44 31.07.1979 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  
Molniya-1 45 20.10.1979 Pl   Molniya-M (Blok-ML)  

Ref: #14, #15, #98a - update: 4.08.05