Meteor-3M No.1 was the first and only of the Meteor-3M series polar-orbiting

weather satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites are mainly of two types: polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asyn ...

s. It was launched on 10 December 2001 at 17:18:57 UTC from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. The satellite is in a

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

with an ascending node time of about 9 AM.

Capabilities

An APT transmission was planned to only have a reduced resolution (2 km) visible channel data. The status of any APT capability on this satellite was unclear, but it was thought not to have an APT transmitter. No APT transmissions were received from this satellite. SLR mission support began on 1 May 2002. Zenit-2 rocket ready for launch

Secondary mission objective was the flight testing of the novel-type spherical retroreflector for precise laser ranging.

ILRS Mission Support Status

SLR was used for precise orbit determination and retroreflector research.

Instrumentation

* SAGE III * Spherical retroreflector * Other weather monitoring instruments

Retro-reflector Array (RRA) characteristics

The retro-reflector was a glass ball 60 mm in diameter, fastened in a holder providing observation from Earth at elevations of more than 30° (the retroreflector field of view was centered in the Nadir direction). The spherical retro-reflector with its holder was fixed to the Meteor-3M No.1 spacecraft. The expected return signal strength level was between

LAGEOS LAGEOS (), Laser Geodynamics Satellite or Laser Geometric Environmental Observation Survey, are a series of two scientific research satellites designed to provide an orbiting laser ranging benchmark for geodynamical studies of the Earth. Each ...

and ETALON.

SAGE III

Meteor-3M No.1 included the SAGE III ( Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) payload and other instruments designed to measure temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, surface properties, and high energy particles in the upper atmosphere. SAGE III was a gyrating spectrometer that measured ultraviolet/visible light, which was used to enhance understanding of natural and human-derived atmospheric processes by providing accurate long-term measurements of the vertical structure of aerosols, ozone, water vapor, and other important trace gases in the upper troposphere and stratosphere.

End of mission

Technical problems affecting the satellite two years after launch left it almost completely disabled. Meteor-3M No.1 functioned until March 2006, after which it was decommissioned. Meteor-M No.1, a replacement satellite, was launched on 17 September 2009.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Sputnik server

eoPortal Meteor overview

SAGE III Meteor 3M

Spacecraft launched in 2001 Weather satellites of Russia