Meridian 6 ( rus, Меридиан-6), also known as Meridian No.16L, is a Russian military

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

, one of the

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

series. It is designed to carry military communications traffic and is a replacement for the Molniya satellites. In common with the earlier satellites these craft are in

molniya orbit A Molniya orbit ( rus, Молния, p=ˈmolnʲɪjə, a=Ru-молния.ogg, "Lightning") is a type of satellite orbit designed to provide communications and remote sensing coverage over high latitudes. It is a highly elliptical orbit with an ...

s, a highly elliptical orbit named after the earlier satellites and giving good coverage of northern Russia.

Meridian

Meridian satellites are the replacement for older Soviet molniya satellites, and some authors think some functions of the

parus ''Parus'' is a genus of Old World birds in the tit family. It was formerly a large genus containing most of the 50 odd species in the family Paridae. The genus was split into several resurrected genera following the publication of a detailed mo ...

satellites. It was constructed by ISS Reshetnev and is believed to be based on the Uragan-M

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus- ...

, which has also been used for

GLONASS GLONASS (russian: ГЛОНАСС, label=none, ; rus, links=no, Глобальная навигационная спутниковая система, r=Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, t=Global Navigation Satellite System) is ...

navigation satellite A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...

s. The first Meridian satellite was launched in 2006 and two of the six launched up to end of 2012 have failed -

Meridian 2 Meridian 2 ( rus, Меридиан-2), also known as Meridian No.12L, was a Russian communications satellite. It was the second satellite of the Meridian system, which replaced the older Molniya series. It followed on from Meridian 1, which wa ...

due a problem with the Fregat upper stage and

Meridian 5 Meridian 5 ( rus, Меридиан-5), also known as Meridian No.15L, was a communications satellite launched by the Russian Federal Space Agency which was lost in a launch failure in December 2011. The fifth Meridian spacecraft to be launched, ...

due to a problem with the third-stage motor. The satellites are believed to have a pressurised bus and a three axis control system. They are manufactured by

PO Polyot Production Association Polyot (russian: Производственное объединение «Полёт», , flying, flight) is a Russian aerospace engineering state corporation best known for being the manufacturer of GLONASS satellites and t ...

on behalf of ISS Reshetnev. They have the

GRAU index The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...

14F112.

Launch

Meridian was launched on 14 November 2012 from

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 ...

launchpad 43/4 by a

Soyuz-2.1a Soyuz-2 ( GRAU index 14A14) is a modernized version of the Soviet Soyuz rocket. In its basic form, it is a three-stage launch vehicle for placing payloads into low Earth orbit. Compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz, the first-stag ...

rocket with a

Fregat Fregat (russian: Фрегат, ''frigate'') is an upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin in the 1990s, which is used in some Soyuz and Zenit launch vehicles, but is universal and can be used as a part of a medium and heavy class launch vehic ...

upper stage. It was launched at 11:42 UTC and the satellite and upper stage separated from the rocket at 11:51 UTC. The satellite was then released from the upper stage into a molniya orbit at 14:00 UTC. It was given the

international designator The International Designator, also known as COSPAR ID, is an international identifier assigned to artificial objects in space. It consists of the launch year, a three-digit incrementing launch number of that year and up to a three-letter code repr ...

2012-063A and the

United States Space Command United States Space Command (USSPACECOM or SPACECOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers (62 miles) and grea ...

assigned it the

Satellite Catalog Number The Satellite Catalog Number (SATCAT, also known as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) Catalog Number, NORAD ID, USSPACECOM object number or simply catalog number, among similar variants) is a sequential nine-digit number assigned by the Un ...

38995. The launch was attended by newly appointed Russian defence minister

Sergei Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, ; tyv, Сергей Күжүгет оглу Шойгу, translit=Sergey Kyzhyget oglu Shoygu, . (russian: Сергей Кужугетович Шойгу; born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician who has served as ...

in his first visit to the troops since being appointed on 6 November 2012.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2012 Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-2 rockets Spacecraft launched in 2012 Meridian satellites 2012 in Russia