CGMS-42 ROSH/ROSC-

WP-01
25 April 2014

Prepared by ROSH/ROSC
Agenda Item: D1
Discussed in Plenary

REPORT ON THE STATUS OF CURRENT AND FUTURE RUSSIAN

SATELLITE SYSTEMS

This document addresses the current status of Meteor-M №1 polar-orbiting meteorological

satellite (launched in 2009) and Electro-L №1 geostationary meteorological satellite (launched in
2011).

Future Russian geostationary meteorological constellation will consist of three Electro-L

satellites. The location of Electro-L satellites in orbit will be 14,5W, 76E and 166E. The mission
objectives, payload and ground segment matters are provided.

Working paper provides an overview of future Meteor-M polar-orbiting satellite system, which
will include three meteorological and one oceanographic satellites, and also forthcoming series of
Meteor-MP satellites.

Arctica-M constellation of highly elliptical orbit satellites is now under development. The system
will include two spacecrafts. These satellites will provide continuous observations over the Arctic
region. The launch is scheduled for 2015–2016. An overview of the mission objectives, payload
and ground segment matters are presented.
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STATUS OF CURRENT AND FUTURE RUSSIAN SATELLITE SYSTEMS

1 INTRODUCTION

According to the Russian Federal Space Program the space system for
hydrometeorological and environmental monitoring will consist of three polar-orbiting
meteorological and one oceanographic satellites, and three geostationary meteorological
satellites. Currently, one spacecraft of each satellite series is already launched – Meteor-M
№1 (2009) and Electro-L №1 (2011).
Meteor-M №1 and Electro-L №1 are now considered as experimental due to some
limitations. Ground segment matters as well as data transmission details, projects and
services are also presented.
Future Meteor-M series of polar-orbiting satellites and their payload, including
oceanographic satellite Meteor-M №3, and forthcoming Meteor-MP series satellites are
provided.
A constellation of Electro-L geostationary satellites to be located at 14,5W, 76E and
166E is presented.
Arctica-M project of two highly elliptical orbit satellites is outlined. It will provide
observations similar to geostationary satellites but over the Arctic region. The payload of
Arctica-M satellites will be similar to Electro-L series.

2 CURRENT SATELLITE SYSTEMS

There are two meteorological satellites currently in orbit: one polar-orbiting and one
geostationary. The satellite status in the WMO tables is updated below.

Current GEO satellites contributing to the GOS

Details on
Satellite Launch Instrument payload
Sector Operator Location near real time
in orbit date and status
access

Indian MSU-GS, HMS (GGAK),

Russian
Ocean Electro-L HRIT/LRIT DCS, GeoSAR.
Federation 76°E 20/01/2011
(36°E- N1 specification Direct broadcast HRIT,
/Roshydromet
108°E) LRIT

Current LEO satellites contributing to the GOS

Orbit type Equator Details on Instrument
Satellite Mean Launch
Operator Crossing near real payload
in orbit Altitude date
Time time access and status

Sun- Russian MSU-MR,

METEOR Signal
synchronous Federation 09:30 820 km 17/09/2009 MTVZA,
-M N1 structure
"Morning" /Roshydro KMSS,

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orbit met Severjanin,

ECT between GGAK-M.
19:00-24:00 Dissemination:
and between HRPT, LRPT
07:00-12:00

2.1 Status of current GEO satellite systems

According to the Russian Federal Space Program the geostationary meteorological

satellite Electro-L №1 has been located at 76E. It is regarded as experimental due to some
payload failure.
The satellite was designed and built by Lavochkin Association and has a three-axis
stabilized platform.

2.1.1 Mission objectives, payload/instruments, products

Primary objectives of Electro-L N1 mission:

• Continuous observation of the Earth within a radius of 55-60 degrees centred at
the sub-satellite point;
• Simultaneous images of cloud cover and the Earth's surface in 10 visible and
infrared channels;
• The development and maintaining the national data collection system (DCS),
collection of the hydrometeorlogical data from national and international
platforms (DCPs);
• Retransmission of the data from ROSHYDROMET regional centers;
• Heliogeophysical measurements at geostationary orbit altitudes;
• Data dissemination in HRIT/LRIT formats to national and foreign users.
Besides standard meteorological communication package (DCS and re-transmitters) the
key payload consists of MSU-GS imager that provides data in three visible and seven IR
channels. The spatial resolution at sub-satellite point is 1 km for visible and 4 km for IR
channels. The period between scanning sessions for all channels is 30 min and in the more
frequent mode is 15 min. JSC "Russian Space Systems" is a developer of this instrument. The
7.5 GHz channel with data rate of 30,72 Mbps is used for transmitting raw MSU-GS data.
GGAK Heliogeophysical Measurements Suite provides monitoring of the
electromagnetic solar radiation, corpuscular radiation and terrestrial magnetic fields. The 1.7
GHz channel (5 Kbps data rate) is used for GGAK data transmitting.
Subsystem for data retransmission consists of:
• The channel for collecting and transmitting data from DCP network to the
ROSHYDROMET centers;
• The channel for hydrometeorological data exchange between ROSHYDROMET
centers;
• The channels for MSU-GS data dissemination in HRIT and LRIT formats;
• The transponder for the geostationary COSPAS-SARSAT Search & Rescue
system.
SRC PLANETA produces various products such as cloud cover, etc., and provides these
products to the number of users.

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2.1.2 Status of spacecraft

The current status of Electro-L N1:

• The three-axis stabilized space platform “Navigator” and ground segment flight
tests are completed;
∗
• The MSU-GS instrument is characterized by calibration failure and excessive
noise level in some IR channels. The WV channel is not functional because of
excessive noise. All visible channels are fully functional;
• The DCS is fully functional (300 national channels and 33 international channels);
• The data exchange between ROSHYDROMET centers is established;
• The COSPAS-SARSAT system is functional;
• The GGAK instrument operates with significant limitations;
• The HRIT/LRIT channels are used for the regular data transmission;
• The data in HRIT format is distributed on demand via SRC Planeta FTP server.
∗
Due to technical issues onboard, MSU-GS instrument is currently disable (until
further notice).

2.1.3 Impact on spacecraft due to space weather

2.1.4 Ground segment matters

Roshydromet ground segment consists of three SRC Planeta regional centers,

responsible for receiving, processing, disseminating and archiving satellite data: European
(Moscow-Obninsk-Dolgoprudny), Siberian (Novosibirsk) and Far-Eastern (Khabarovsk).
These centers together give full coverage of the Russia and neighbouring territories.
Roshydromet ground segment for Electro-L satellite is based on SRC Planeta facility.
The receiving and transmitting systems are located in European center (Moscow-
Dolgoprudny), with the backup facility in Siberian center (Novosibirsk). The deployment of
the receiving system in the Far-Eastern center (Khabarovsk) is underway. Satellite data is also
received by Roscosmos facility in Moscow for the quality control purposes.
The ground segment of Roshydromet also includes the network of DCP, LRIT and
HRIT stations.

2.1.5 Data transmission

Electro-L N1 HRIT/LRIT channels are now used for the data distribution at 1.7 GHz.
The data is currently transmitted every 3 hours. Additionally, the satellite is used for signal
retransmission from COSPAS-SARSAT Search & Rescue system at 0.4/1.54 GHz.
The meteorological data in HRIT format is distributed to some users via SRC Planeta
FTP server every 3 hours (standard synoptic hours).

2.1.6 Projects, services

The list of services currently provided by Electro-L N1 satellite:

• Visible and IR imagery;
• DCS;
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• The data exchange between ROSHYDROMET centers;

• COSPAS-SARSAT system.

2.1.7 User statistics

Electro-L N1 satellite data is used by Russian Hydrometeorological and Environmental

Monitoring Service.

2.2 Status of current LEO satellite systems

The first spacecraft of Meteor-M series of new Russian polar-orbiting meteorological

satellites, Meteor-M №1 was launched in 2009. It is located in a sun-synchronous orbit (820
km, ascending, equator crossing time ~ 9h:30min, inclination 98,79°). The satellite was
designed and built by JSC “VNIIEM Corporation”.
The satellite is considered as experimental due to limited functionality of the main
payload.

2.2.1 Mission objectives, payload/instruments, products

The main objective of Meteor-M-1 mission is to provide global observations of the

Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. The data acquired by the satellite is used for the
following purposes:
• Weather analysis and forecasting on global and regional scales;
• Global climate change monitoring;
• Sea water monitoring and forecasting;
• Space weather analysis and prediction (solar wind, ionospheric research, Earth's
magnetic field, etc.).

Payload of Meteor-M №1 consists of:

• MSU-MR Scanning Radiometer (1 km spatial resolution multichannel scanning
unit, 6 channels, VIS/IR);
• KMSS VIS Scanning Imager (6 channels implemented by 3 cameras, 50 m and
100 m spatial resolution);
• Severjanin X-band Side-Looking Radar (500 m and 1000 m resolution);
• MTVZA-GY Imaging/Sounding Microwave Radiometer (module for temperature
and humidity sounding of the atmosphere, 26 channels, 10.6-183 GHz)
• GGAK-M Heliogeophysical Measurements Suite;
• Data collection system (DCS);

Meteor-M №1 has three downlink radio lines:

• 2-channel X-band radio link (8.192 GHz and 8.320 GHz) with 122.88 Mbps data
transmission rate in each channel;
• L-band radio link (1.7 GHz) with 665.4 Kbps data transmission rate (HRPT data
transmission);
• VHF-band radio link (137 MHz) with 80 Kbps data transmission rate (LRPT data
transmission).
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2.2.2 Status of spacecraft

Meteor-M №1 data is used by Roshydromet with limitations due to some instruments

failures.
The current status of the basic instruments:
• MSU-MR instrument is functional with limitations (calibration issues and large noise
level in the IR channels);
• MTVZA-GY instrument is functional with limitations due to failures of on-board
memory and atmospheric sounding channels;
• KMSS instrument is fully functional;
• Severjanin instrument is non-operational;
• DCS is functional with limitations due to interferences to signals from ground sources;
• LRPT transmission is functional with limitations due to information compression errors;
• GGAK-M is operational with significant limitations.

2.2.3 Impact on spacecraft due to space weather

Impact on spacecraft due to space weather is not established.

2.2.4 Ground segment matters

Roshydromet ground segment consists of three SRC Planeta regional centers,

responsible for receiving, processing, disseminating and archiving satellite data: European
(Moscow-Obninsk-Dolgoprudny), Siberian (Novosibirsk) and Far-Eastern (Khabarovsk).
These centers together give full coverage of the Russia and neighbouring territories.
Roshydromet ground segment for Meteor-M №1 satellite is based on SRC Planeta
facility. It also includes the network of DCP, LRPT and HRPT stations. Data acquisition and
processing are also performed by Roscosmos operational facility in Moscow.
Meteor-M №1 ground segment has been developed by Roshydromet and Roscosmos.

2.2.5 Data transmission

Global data X-band downlink is used for Roshydromet purposes only.

The direct broadcast is operational in L-band in HRPT format. The detailed format
description is published at SRC Planeta and WMO websites.

2.2.6 Projects, services

The list of services currently provided by the Meteor-M N1 satellite:

• Visible and IR imagery (MSU-MR instrument);
• Moderate resolution visible imagery (KMSS instrument).
Meteor-M N1 data is used for disaster monitoring such as floods and forest fires, as well
as sea ice and water pollution monitoring, etc.

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2.2.7 User statistics

Meteor-M №1 satellite data is currently used with limitations by Russian

Hydrometeorological and Environmental Monitoring Service, and also provided to
EMERCOM – Ministry of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief of the Russian
Federation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation and
other federal and regional institutions of Russia.

3 FUTURE SATELLITE SYSTEMS

Satellite in Operator Location Planned Instrument

Sector orbit launch date payload
and status

Electro-L Russian 77.8°E 2014 MSU-GS, HMS

Indian
N2 Federation/ (GGAK), DCS,
Ocean
Roshydromet GeoSAR.
(37°E
Direct broadcast
-109°E)
HRIT, LRIT

Electro-L Russian TBD 2015 MSU-GS, HMS,

TBD N3 Federation DCS, GeoSAR.
/Roshydromet Direct broadcast
HRIT, LRIT

Electro-L Russian TBD 2017 MSU-GS, HMS,

TBD N4 Federation DCS, GeoSAR.
/Roshydromet Direct broadcast
HRIT, LRIT

Electro-M Russian TBD 2021

Indian MSU-GSM, IRFS-
Ocean N1-1 Federation GS, ERBR, LM,
/Roshydromet
(37°E GGAK-E/M,
Electro-M 2022
-109°E) BRTK-M
N1-2

Electro-M Russian TBD 2023 MSU-GSM, IRFS-

N2-1 Federation GS, ERBR, LM,
TBD /Roshydromet GGAK-E/M,
Electro-M 2024
BRTK-M
N2-2

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Planned
Satellite in
Orbit type Operator Orbit launch Instrument payload
orbit
date
Russian
Arctica-M MSU-GS, DCS,
Federation Molnya Orbit 2015
Highly Elliptical N1 HMS(GGAK)
/Roshydromet
Orbit (non-geo-
stationary) Russian
Arctica-M MSU-GS, DCS,
Federation Molnya Orbit 2016
N2 HMS(GGAK)
/Roshydromet

Sun- MSU-MR,
synchronous MTVZA, IRFS-2,
Russian
"Morning" orbit METEOR- 820 KMSS, Severjanin,
Federation 9:30 2014
ECT between M N2 km GGAK-M, DCS.
/Roshydromet
19:00-24:00 Dissemination:
and between HRPT, LRPT
07:00-12:00
MSU-MR,
MTVZA, IRFS-2,
Russian
METEOR- 820 KMSS, Severjanin,
Federation TBD 2015
M N2-1 km GGAK-M, DCS.
/Roshydromet
Dissemination:
HRPT, LRPT

MSU-MR,
After- MTVZA, IRFS-2,
Russian
METEOR- noon 820 KMSS, Severjanin,
Federation 2016
M N2-2 (Time km GGAK-M, DCS.
/Roshydromet
TBD Dissemination:
HRPT, LRPT

MSU-MR,
MTVZA, IRFS-2,
Russian
METEOR- 820 KMSS, Severjanin,
Federation TBD 2019
M N2-3 km GGAK-M, DCS.
/Roshydromet
Dissemination:
HRPT, LRPT

MSU-MR,
MTVZA, IRFS-2,
Russian
METEOR- 820 KMSS, Severjanin,
Federation TBD 2020
M N2-4 km GGAK-M, DCS.
/Roshydromet
Dissemination:
HRPT, LRPT

METEOR- Russian TBD 820 2021 MSU-MR,

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M N2-5 Federation km MTVZA, IRFS-2,

/Roshydromet KMSS, Severjanin,
GGAK-M, DCS.
Dissemination:
HRPT, LRPT

CZS, SCAT, OCS,

Russian
METEOR- 650 Radiomet, SAR-X,
Federation TBD 2020
M N3 km Dissemination:
/Roshydromet
HRPT, LRPT

3.1 Status of future GEO satellite systems

According to the Russian Federal Space Program Electro-L constellation of the

geostationary meteorological satellites should consist of three similar satellites.
The satellites are designed and built by Lavochkin Association and have a three-axis
stabilized platform.
Electro-L №2 is scheduled to be placed at 77.8E in 2014. The launch of Electro-L №3 is
scheduled in 2015.
The payload of Electro-L constellation is similar to Electro-L №1 spacecraft but with
improved instrument performance. The payload will consist of MSU-GS Imager, standard
meteorological communication package (DCS and re-transmitters), data retransmission
channel for hydrometeorological data exchange between ROSHYDROMET centers, and
GGAK Heliogeophysical Measurements Suite.

3.1.1 Mission objectives, spacecraft, payload/instruments, products

Primary objectives of Electro-L missions:

• Continuous observation of the Earth within a radius of 55-60 degrees centered at
the sub-satellite point;
• Simultaneous images of cloud cover and the Earth's surface in 10 visible and
infrared channels;
• The development and maintaining DCS, collection of the hydrometeorlogical data
from national and international platforms;
• Retransmission of the data from ROSHYROMET regional centers;
• Heliogeophysical measurements at geostationary orbit altitudes;
• Data dissemination in HRIT/LRIT formats to national and foreign users.

Besides standard meteorological communication package (DCS and re-transmitters) the

key payload will consist of MSU-GS Imager which provides data in three visible and seven
IR channels. The spatial resolution at the sub-satellite point is 1 km for visible and 4 km for
IR channels. The period between scanning sessions for all channels is 30 min and in more
frequent mode is every 15 min. JSC "Russian Space Systems" is a developer of this
instrument. The 7.5 GHz channel with data rate of 30,72 Mbps is used for transmitting raw
MSU-GS data.

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GGAK Heliogeophysical Measurements Suite provides monitoring of the

electromagnetic solar radiation, corpuscular radiation and terrestrial magnetic fields. The 1.7
GHz channel (5 Kbps data rate) is used for GGAK data transmitting.

Subsystem for data retransmission consists of:

• The channel for collecting and transmitting data from DCP network to the
ROSHYDROMET centers;
• The channel for hydrometeorological data exchange between ROSHYDROMET
centers;
• The channels for MSU-GS data dissemination in HRIT and LRIT formats;
• The transponder for the geostationary COSPAS-SARSAT Search & Rescue
system.

3.1.2 Ground segment matters

Electro-L N2, N3 & N4 ground segment will be developed by Roshydromet and

Roscosmos. Roshydromet main ground segment for Electro-L satellites will be based on SRC
Planeta facility. The ground segment will also include the network of DCP, LRIT and HRIT
stations.

3.1.3 Data transmission

Electro-L N2, N3 & N4 HRIT/LRIT channels will be used for the data transmission in
L-band every 30 min. Additionally, the satellite will support COSPAS-SARSAT Search and
Rescue system at 0.4/1.54 GHz.

3.2 Status of future LEO satellite systems

According to the Russian Federal Space Program the polar-orbiting satellites system
should consist of three hydrometeorological and one oceanographic satellite.
Meteor-M №2 spacecraft is about to be launched in 2014. Meteor-M №2-1
hydrometeorological satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2015. Meteor-M №3
oceanographic satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2020.
These satellites will be designed by JSC “VNIIEM Corporation”.
Payload of Meteor-M №2 and Meteor-M №2-1 consists of:
• MSU-MR Scanning Radiometer (1 km spatial resolution multichannel scanning
unit, 6 channels, VIS/IR);
• KMSS VIS Scanning Imager (6 channels implemented by 3 cameras, 50 and
100m spatial resolution);
• Severjanin X-band Side-Looking Radar (500 m and 1000 m resolution);
• MTVZA-GY Imaging/Sounding Microwave Radiometer (module for temperature
and humidity sounding of the atmosphere, 26 channels, 10.6-183 GHz);
• IKFS-2 Infra-red Fourier-transform spectrometer (IR atmospheric sounder,
spectral range 5-15 µm, spectral resolution ~ 0.5 cm-1);
• GGAK-M Heliogeophysical Measurements Suite;

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• Data collection system.

Meteor-M №2 has three downlink radio lines:
• 2-channel X-band radio link (8.192 GHz and 8.320 GHz) with 122.88 Mbps data
transmission rate on each channel;
• L-band radio link (1.7 GHz) with 665.4 Kbps data transmission rate (HRPT data
transmission);
• VHF-band radio link (137 MHz) with 80 Kbps data transmission rate (LRPT data
transmission).
All instruments for Meteor-M №2 mission are installed on-board the spacecraft. The
satellite is scheduled to be launched in a sun-synchronous orbit (820 km, equator crossing
time ~ 9h:30 min, inclination 98,79) in 2014.
It is planned to launch five similar satellites with the same payload as Meteor-M N2, i.e.
Meteor-M N2-1, Meteor-M N2-2, Meteor-M N2-3, Meteor-M N2-4, Meteor-M N2-5. The
goal is to create a system of identical operational meteorological satellites in morning and
afternoon orbits.
Meteor-M №3 oceanographic satellite is currently under development. Its payload will
consist of:
• Multimode radar based on Active Phased Array Antenna (APAA) technology (X-
band, spatial resolution from 1 to 500 m, swath 10 - 750 km);
• Scatterometer (Ku-band; 25x25 km spatial resolution, swath 1800 km);
• Coastal Zone Scanner (4 channels, visible range, 80 m spatial resolution, swath
800 km);
• Ocean Color Scanner (8 channels, visible range, 1 km spatial resolution, swath
3000 km);
• Radio-occultation instrument (Radiomet).

Meteor-M №3 is scheduled for launch in 2020.

According to the Federal Space Program the development of Meteor-MP constellation of
the New Generation Satellites has been started in 2011.
Meteor-MP constellation will consist of meteorological and oceanographic satellites.
Meteor-MP payload will be basically similar to Meteor-M series payload, but with improved
instrument performance.
Meteor-MP payload will consist of:

Meteor-MP Meteor-MP
meteorological oceanographic
Scanning radiometer (low-resolution
+ -
multichannel scanning unit)
Ocean color scanner - +
Visible spectrum scanning imager
(Moderate resolution multispectral + -
imaging system)
Coastal zone scanner - +
Infra-red Fourier-transform
+ -
spectrometer
Moderate resolution multispectral
+ -
infra-red scanner
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Atmospheric composition
+ -
spectrometer
Microwave imager-sounder (module
for temperature and humidity + -
sounding of the atmosphere )
Scatterometer - +
Side-looking radar system + -
Multimode radar system based on
Active Phased Array Antenna - +
(APAA)
Radio-occultation instrument + -
Data collection system + +
Heliogeophysical Measurements
+ -
Suite
1.7GHz data downlink system + -
X- and Ka- band data downlink
+ +
system

3.2.1 Mission objectives, spacecraft, payload/instruments, products

The main objective of Meteor-MP mission is to provide global observations of the Earth’s
surface and the atmosphere. The data acquired by the satellite can be used for the following
purposes:
• Weather analysis and forecasting on global and regional scales;
• Global climate change monitoring;
• Sea water monitoring and forecasting;
• Space weather analysis and prediction (solar wind, ionospheric research, Earth's
magnetic field, etc.).

3.2.2 Ground segment matters

The Meteor-MP ground segment based on the existing facilities will be developed by
Roshydromet and Roscosmos.
Roshydromet ground segment consists of three SRC Planeta regional centers,
responsible for receiving, processing, disseminating and archiving satellite data: European
(Moscow-Obninsk-Dolgoprudny), Siberian (Novosibirsk) and Far-Eastern (Khabarovsk).
These centers together give full coverage of the Russian territory and neighbouring states.
The ground segment also includes the network of DCPs, LRPT, and HRPT stations.

3.2.3 Data transmission

Global data X-band downlink will be used for Roshydromet purposes only.
The direct broadcast will operate in L-band in HRPT format. The detailed format
description will be updated and published at SRC Planeta website after the commissioning
phase.

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3.3 Status of future HEO [or other] satellite systems

At CGMS-34 it was reported on the Russian project of Arctic region monitoring from
the “Molnya” highly elliptical orbit for the first time. Now this project evolved into mission of
two HEO satellites called Arctica. The work has been started in 2011 and the first satellite is
now being produced by Lavochkin Association.

3.3.1 Mission objectives, spacecraft, payload/instruments, products

The main purposes of the mission are meteorology, oceanography, including ice cover
monitoring and disaster monitoring in the Arctic region. To perform operational monitoring
of Polar Regions 24 hours a day each of two satellites will be covering the area for 6,4 hours
and then step back for the next one. The cycle time for each satellite is exactly 12 hours.
The payload and design of the satellites are similar to Electro-L series.
The essential feature of Arctica system spacecraft is their mass and power reserves
allowing to add different types of complementary instruments, including international ones if
it is considered necessary. The launch of the first Arctica satellite is scheduled for 2015.

3.3.2 Ground segment matters

The ground segment for Arctica constellation will be based on SRC

Planeta/ROSHYDROMET facilities in Moscow, Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk. Also it is
planned to deploy the network of small data acquisition centers in the coastal zone along the
Northern Sea Route.

3.3.3 Data transmission

Data transmission system of Arctica satellites will consist of:

• Downlink in X-band with data transmission rate of 30.72 Mbit/s;
• Downlink in L-band for the GGAK with data transmission rate of 5000 bit/s;
• DCS retransmission support at 401-403 MHz / 1.7 GHz;
• Meteorological data retransmission in L-band.

4 ACTIONS AND/OR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONSIDERATION BY

CGMS PLENARY SESSION

The geostationary Electro-L №1 satellite located over the Indian Ocean at 76°E has
international DCS channels which may be used to collect the information from the remote
areas located within its footprint. Thus, CGMS could recommend its members to use this
opportunity.
As the second recommendation, it is suggested to make an additional effort into
channels inter-calibration of the geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites, especially in the
infrared and microwave channels.

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5 CONCLUSION

Russia is currently developing national constellation of meteorological satellites. It will

be complemented by the satellites in highly elliptical “Molnya” type orbits. Two satellites in
HEO, the first spacecraft is scheduled for launch in 2015, will provide the continuous
monitoring of the atmosphere, ocean and land in the northern Polar Regions.

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