Soyuz 2-1A - Meridian-6 Launch Updates
Soyuz/Fregat launches with next Meridian Satellite
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November 14, 2012
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A Russian Soyuz 2-1A Spacecraft blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 11:42 UTC on a mission to deliver the 6th Russian Meridian Military Communications Satellite to orbit.
The 308,000-Kilogram Soyuz-2 launcher blasted off from Launch Pad 4 at Site 43 of Plesetsk which serves as Russia’s primary launch site for military space launches. With a liftoff thrust of 4,200 Kilonewtons, the Soyuz ascended into the Russian sky being powered by its four boosters and their RD-118 engines along with the RD-117 of the core stage. Ascent performance was nominal and after two minutes, the four strap-on boosters were jettisoned when their job of providing extra-thrust for the initial portion of the flight was done. The Core Stage continued to power the vehicle providing 1,000kN of vacuum thrust. After burning more than 99,000kg of propellants, the Core Stage separated and the third stage was in charge of powering the vehicle for about four minutes using its RD-0124 engine providing 298kN of thrust. On its way uphill, the vehicle jettisoned the protective payload fairing to expose the Meridian-6 payload. Once the burn was complete, the Fregat Upper Stage separated at 11:51 UTC and started a short coast phase. The Soyuz launcher performed a nominal ascent mission and delivered the stack to a sub-orbital trajectory with Fregat’s first burn boosting the stack into its parking orbit. Over the course of the mission, Fregat made a number of burns to make the orbit highly elliptical, placing the stack into its desired Molniya Orbit with an apogee of about 39,000 kilometers. Spacecraft separation occurred at about 14:00 UTC followed by a final burn of Fregat to move it to a graveyard orbit. Fregat has a launch mass of 6,300kg and uses Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide as propellants to feed its S5.92 main engine which provides 19.85kN of thrust and can operate at a second thrust level of 14kN. Fregat provides the flexibility needed to enable the Soyuz launcher to reach a variety of orbits. |
*Soyuz-2 File Image* - Photo: ESA
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Launch success was officially announced later on Wednesday. Fregat completed its mission as planned and the Meridian Satellite was released into its intended orbit.
Image: NPO PM
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The Meridian-6 Satellite is the sixth satellite in the Meridian Series that is being launched and operated by Russia. Meridian satellites provide military communication services and are the replacement for the Molniya Communications Satellite Constellation. The spacecraft are being manufactured by ISS Reshetnev, formerly NPO PM. The satellites are based around a pressurized bus system similar to that of Uragan and GLONASS Satellites. Other components of Meridian such as flight computers and propulsion systems are likely common between GLONASS and Meridian. Detailed information on the Meridian Satellites is not available due to the military nature of their mission.
Meridian also serves civilian purposes providing communication and navigation services. In addition to the Uragan-M Bus, Meridian Satellite have two deployable solar arrays that are capable of sun-tracking along the rotational axis. The Meridian Program is the replacement for the Russian Molniya program that featured more than 100 satellite launches to orbit over three generations of satellites from 1964 to 2005. |
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Molniya Satellites and the new Meridian spacecraft orbit Earth in a highly elliptical orbit with an apogee of about 39,000 Kilometers located above the northern hemisphere to allow the satellites to provide ground coverage of that region. The perigee of the orbits ranged from 450 to 600 Kilometers in the early stage of the program to 1,000 Kilometers later in the program to avoid rapid orbital decay. The orbit was named after the satellites and has ever since been called Molniya Orbit. The launch vehicle that launched the bulk of Molniya satellites was also named after them. Like the Soyuz, Molniya launchers were based on the R7 ballistic missile.
The first Molniya Satellite was launched on June 4, 1964, but failed to reach orbit due to a launch vehicle failure. The second Molniya-1 Satellite did not have better luck, after achieving its orbit, it failed to deploy its communication antennas, rendering the spacecraft useless. A total of 100 Molniya-1 satellites were orbited over a 40-year period, going through regular modernizations featuring Molniya-1+, 1S and 1T Satellites. Molniya satellites were launched using the original Molniya launcher from 1964 to 1966 before switching to the improved Molniya-M rocket with a Blok-ML Upper Stage. One Molniya-1 spacecraft was delivered to Geostationary Orbit via a Proton-K flying with a Blok-DM Upper Stage. In the mid-1970s, 19 Molniya-2 satellites were launched that were part of the YeSSS communications system that provided telegraph, telephone and radio transmissions for the military. Originally, Molniya-2 was planned to replace the first generation of satellites, but the initial system was found to be working well so that no replacement was needed. At least eight Molniya satellites were operational at any given time, orbiting Earth in four planes with two spacecraft per plane, properly spaced to allow continuous communication services. Molniya-3 satellites were launched between 1974 and 2005, originally being a civilian system providing Orbita Television Broadcasting featuring a constellation of four spacecraft. Later, Molniya-3 spacecraft replaced the second generation of vehicles with the number of operational satellites being increased to eight to support the YeSSS unified communications system. A total of 56 Molniya-3 satellites were launched, two of those were delivered to wrong orbits. The final launch of a Molniya satellite occurred on June 21, 2005 when a Molniya-M/ML launcher blasted off from Plesetsk on a Mission to orbit a Molniya-3K satellite. However, the satellite did not achieve orbit because the upper stage failed to separate from the launcher. |
Image: ISS Reshetnev
Molniya-1
Image: NPO PM
Molniya-3K
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With the Molniya program having a troubled end, the start of the Meridian Constellation was no different with the initial two satellites not achieving their mission objectives.
Meridian-1 was launched atop a Soyuz 2-1A on December 24, 2006 from Plesetsk. Seven hours after launch, the Fregat Upper Stage delivered the satellite to its desired Molniya Orbit of 1,012 by 39,816 Kilometers. The satellite deployed its solar arrays and communication systems and began its in-orbit testing phase. On February 1, 2007, the satellite entered operational service, providing military communications. Two and a half years into the mission, it was announced that the satellite failed well before the end of its anticipated life span. Satellite operators blamed the loss of the vehicle on a collision with space debris.
The second Meridian Satellite was launched on May 21, 2009, but problems with the launch vehicle and upper stage resulted in the satellite being deployed into a lower than planned orbit of 275 by 36,473-Kilometer orbit. The satellite was able to use its own propulsion system to raise the perigee of the orbit to bring it out of the zone in which friction with Earth’s uppermost atmosphere causes a more rapid orbital decay. Meridian-2 did not achieve a proper Molniya orbit, but the satellite operators declared the vehicle operational after all systems were checked out following launch.
Meridian-3 was orbited on November 2, 2010 and started operational services as planned, being delivered to a Molniya orbit with perigee well above 1,000 Kilometers. Starting with Meridian-3, additional transponders were added to the system and the overall operational life expectancy was increased to seven years.
The fourth bird of the Meridian Constellation was launched on May 4, 2011, achieving its desired orbit and beginning operations several weeks later. The next launch of the Meridian program occurred on December 23, 2011 and topped a year of Russian Launch failures as the third Stage of the Soyuz 2-1A Rocket suffered a failure of one of the four combustion chambers of the RD-0124 engine with the powerplant being shut down via emergency commands leading to a loss of control, sending the vehicle into a tumble back to Earth with debris falling in the Novosibirsk Region.
Meridian-1 was launched atop a Soyuz 2-1A on December 24, 2006 from Plesetsk. Seven hours after launch, the Fregat Upper Stage delivered the satellite to its desired Molniya Orbit of 1,012 by 39,816 Kilometers. The satellite deployed its solar arrays and communication systems and began its in-orbit testing phase. On February 1, 2007, the satellite entered operational service, providing military communications. Two and a half years into the mission, it was announced that the satellite failed well before the end of its anticipated life span. Satellite operators blamed the loss of the vehicle on a collision with space debris.
The second Meridian Satellite was launched on May 21, 2009, but problems with the launch vehicle and upper stage resulted in the satellite being deployed into a lower than planned orbit of 275 by 36,473-Kilometer orbit. The satellite was able to use its own propulsion system to raise the perigee of the orbit to bring it out of the zone in which friction with Earth’s uppermost atmosphere causes a more rapid orbital decay. Meridian-2 did not achieve a proper Molniya orbit, but the satellite operators declared the vehicle operational after all systems were checked out following launch.
Meridian-3 was orbited on November 2, 2010 and started operational services as planned, being delivered to a Molniya orbit with perigee well above 1,000 Kilometers. Starting with Meridian-3, additional transponders were added to the system and the overall operational life expectancy was increased to seven years.
The fourth bird of the Meridian Constellation was launched on May 4, 2011, achieving its desired orbit and beginning operations several weeks later. The next launch of the Meridian program occurred on December 23, 2011 and topped a year of Russian Launch failures as the third Stage of the Soyuz 2-1A Rocket suffered a failure of one of the four combustion chambers of the RD-0124 engine with the powerplant being shut down via emergency commands leading to a loss of control, sending the vehicle into a tumble back to Earth with debris falling in the Novosibirsk Region.
Russia to launch next Meridian Military Communications Satellite
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November 12, 2012
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*File Image* - Photo: Roscosmos
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A Russian Soyuz 2-1A launch vehicle with the Meridian Military Communications Satellite under its Payload Fairing is standing at its Launch Pad at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia’s main launch base for military launches to orbit. Liftoff from Site 43/4 is set for 11:42 UTC on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 with the Soyuz performing a nominal ascent mission before the Fregat Upper Stage assumes control of the mission to deliver the payload to the desired orbit.
Details on pre-launch processing at Plesetsk have been sparse, as usual with Russian military missions. The Soyuz 2-1A vehicle underwent integration well ahead of the launch and was rolled out to Launch Pad 4 at Site 43 for a dress rehearsal to make sure all systems of the launch pad were ready to support the Soyuz 2-1A launcher after the pad and a Soyuz 2-1V completed testing operations at the site. The dry run took about two days and only involved the launcher. After the Soyuz was rolled back to its integration facility, the Meridian satellite along with its upper stage and payload fairing were attached to the launcher. On November 11, the rocket was rolled to the launch complex once again for final launch preparations. |
Liftoff is planned at 11:42:46 UTC on Wednesday, according to Russian Sources.
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