Meridian 5

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Russia spacecraft n°:

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• Meridian 5 was a Russian communications satellite which was lost in a launch failure. The fifth Meridian spacecraft to be launched, Meridian 5 was to have been deployed into a Molniya orbit with an apogee of 39,000 kilometres (24,000 mi), a perigee of 900 kilometres (560 mi) and 65 degrees of orbital inclination; from which it would have provided communications for the Russian military. It would have been operated by the newly-formed Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.
• Meridian 5 was launched on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage, from Site 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 12:08 UTC on 23 December 2011, with the rocket performing nominally during first and second stage flight. At 288 seconds after launch, the Blok I third stage's RD-0124 engine ignited to begin its burn. During third stage flight, an anomaly occurred which prevented the rocket from reaching orbit.
• Telemetry recorded by NPO Lavochkin, however, indicated that the rocket had veered off course 425 seconds after launch, with data suggesting that there had been an explosion. Another report indicated that the engine had lost thrust 427 seconds after launch. It was the first orbital launch to be conducted by the VVKO (Voyska Vosdushno-Kosmicheskoi Oborona, Aerospace Defence Forces), which on Dec 1 officially replaced the KVR (Russian Space Forces).
• Debris from the launch fell over the Novosibirsk Oblast in Siberia, near Ordynsk. One piece of debris fell through the roof of a house in Cosmonaut Street in the village of Vagaitsevo. Despite debris falling in residential areas, no injuries were reported.