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VOSTOCHNY COSMODROME (Amur region) , 29 Feb. The Fregat upper stage, launched on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome, launched the Meteor-M hydrometeorological satellite No. 2-4 into orbit, a Roscosmos representative said.
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"Earth remote sensing spacecraft "Meteor-M" No. 2-4 at the estimated time separated from the upper stage normally,” said the agency’s interlocutor.
The rocket with the satellite and 17 other Russian and one Iranian small vehicles took off at 8:43 Moscow time. Nine minutes and 23 seconds later, she launched the Fregat upper stage with a payload into low Earth orbit. The upper stage required two activations of the propulsion system before it delivered Meteor-M into an orbit at an altitude of 820 kilometers.
The Fregat mission is not yet completed; it will have to transport small devices into the necessary orbits.
This was the first launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome and the third launch of a Russian rocket in 2024. On the eve of the launch, Iranian Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Isa Zarepour announced that the Pars-1 satellite would be launched into orbit on a rocket in the interests of scientists of the Islamic Republic.
«Meteor-M» No. 2-4, like other devices in this series, is designed to solve hydrometeorological problems, monitor climate and environment, study the Earth's natural resources, and monitor the heliogeophysical situation in near-Earth space. It is also equipped with equipment for relaying signals from emergency beacons of the international satellite search and rescue system COSPAS-SARSAT. In addition, Meteor-M, thanks to its radar complex, can conduct radar monitoring of the Northern Sea Route in any weather.
Meteors-M are currently operating in orbit under numbers 2-2 and 2-3, launched into orbit in July 2019 and June 2023. After the constellation is replenished with the following satellites, Meteor-M No. 2-5 and No. 2-6, launches of the new generation Meteor-MP satellites will begin.
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