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astronautix.com Meteor
Meteor
Meteor
Meteor satellite. Meteor-M and Meteor-Priroda were similar.

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Class: Earth. Type: Weather. Nation: USSR.

The first Soviet weather satellite. Development began with a decree of 30 October 1960. Work began in 1961 at OKB-586 GKOT; in 1962 it was transferred to NII-627. Final development was completed in 1964. The Meteor system subcontractors were:

The first of four launches were on Vostok-M boosters at 81.2 degree inclinations. The system finally went into operation in 1969.

Specification

Total Mass: 4,730 kg.

Meteor Chronology

30 October 1960 Development begun of Meteor, the first Soviet weather satellite.

Work began in 1961 at OKB-586 GKOT; in 1962 it was transferred to NII-627. Final development was completed in 1964.

30 October 1961 Molniya-1 and Meteor-1 satellites authorised.

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On approval of work on the Molniya-1 communications satellite and Meteor-1 weather satellite' was issued. Thedecree authorised work on the Molniya-1M production model, providing international communications on the centimetre band. But the protoype Molniya-1 worked so well that it was taken directly into service, and the -1M was skipped.

31 October 1961 Kosmos 65S3 intermediate launch vehicle development authorised. Launch Vehicle: Kosmos 65S3.

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Creation of the Space Carrier 65S3--start of work on a launch vehicle based on the R-14 for launch of the Meteor, Strela, and Pchela satellites.' was issued.

28 August 1964 Cosmos 44 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 581 km. Apogee: 809 km. Inclination: 65.1 deg.

Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

26 February 1965 Cosmos 58 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 333 km. Apogee: 345 km. Inclination: 65.0 deg.

Probable weather satellite. Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

17 December 1965 Cosmos 100 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 485 km. Apogee: 547 km. Inclination: 65.0 deg.

Probable weather satellite. Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

11 May 1966 Cosmos 118 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 316 km. Apogee: 339 km. Inclination: 65.0 deg.

Probable weather satellite. Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

25 June 1966 Cosmos 122 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 371 km. Apogee: 388 km. Inclination: 65.0 deg.

Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

28 February 1967 Cosmos 144 Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 574 km. Apogee: 644 km. Inclination: 81.3 deg.

Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

27 April 1967 Cosmos 156 Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 368 km. Apogee: 375 km. Inclination: 81.1 deg.

Worked with Cosmos 144. Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

01 July 1967 Tsiklon-2 launch vehicle authorised. Launch Vehicle: Tsyklon 2.

Council of Soviet Ministers (SM) Decree 'On use of the R-36-based launcher for the Kosmos and Meteor satellites' was issued.

25 October 1967 Cosmos 184 Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 409 km. Apogee: 414 km. Inclination: 81.2 deg.

Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

14 March 1968 Cosmos 206 Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 396 km. Apogee: 405 km. Inclination: 81.2 deg.

Visual, IR cloud cover images. Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

12 June 1968 Cosmos 226 Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. Mass: 4,730 kg. Perigee: 579 km. Apogee: 639 km. Inclination: 81.2 deg.

Investigation of the upper atmosphere and outer space.

01 February 1969 Meteor Launch Site: Plesetsk . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8A92M. FAILURE: Failure.
02 January 1970 Tsiklon 3 launch vehicle development authorised. Launch Vehicle: Tsyklon 3.

Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Creation of the Carrier-Rocket 11K68 on The Basis of 11K69 RN and S5M Stage for Launch of Space Apparatus 'Tselina' and .Meteor'--approval of work on the Tsiklon-3 RN

Bibliography:

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Last update 12 March 2001.
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