Elektro–L ( Russian : Электро-Л ) is a series of meteorological satellites developed for the Russian Federal Space Agency by NPO Lavochkin . The first satellite, Elektro-L No.1 , was launched on 2 January 2011. It is the first Russian weather satellite that successfully operates in geostationary orbit , and is currently the second operational Russian weather satellite. The satellites have a mass of about 1620 kg and are designed to operate for 10 years each. They are capable of producing images of the Earth's whole hemisphere in both visible and infrared frequencies, providing data for climate change and ocean monitoring in addition to their primary weather forecasting role.
17-594: Elektro–L was developed by the company NPO Lavochkin and financed from the Russian Federal Space Program 2006–2015. The satellites will be operated by and provide data for Roscosmos , Scientific Research Center of Space Hydrometeorology "Planeta" and for the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia (Roshydromet). Elektro–L's predecessor was the Elektro 1 satellite which
34-565: A Proton-M rocket. This satellite's orbit can be tracked at uphere.space The fourth satellite in the series Elektro-L No.4 , was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 5 February 2023 at 09:12 UTC by a Proton-M rocket. NPO Lavochkin NPO Lavochkin ( Russian : НПО Лавочкина , OKB-301 , also called Lavochkin Research and Production Association or shortly Lavochkin Association , LA )
51-436: Is 159.1 degrees east longitude. The next satellite in the series, Elektro-L No.2 , initially slated for launch in 2013, was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 11 December 2015 at 13:45 UTC. The launch vehicle was a Zenit-3F with Fregat-SB upper stage. It was the rocket's 83rd and possibly last flight. The third satellite in the series Elektro-L No.3 , was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 24 December 2019 at 12:03 UTC by
68-605: Is a Russian aerospace company. It is a major player in the Russian space program, being the developer and manufacturer of the Fregat upper stage, as well as interplanetary probes such as Fobos-Grunt . As of 2015, it was headed by Sergei Lemeshevskii. On 10 August 2017 the Lavochkin Association's Board of Directors appointed Vladimir Kolmykov Director General of the enterprise. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft such as
85-418: Is a standardised platform which will also serve as the basis for future Russian satellites, including for space telescope Spektr-R . The spacecraft's MSU-GS imaging system is able to provide a resolution of 1 km per pixel for the two visible bands and 4 km for eight infrared bands (ranging from 800 nm to 11,500 nm). They will normally take images every 30 minutes, but in case of emergencies,
102-482: Is expected to make Russian weather forecasts more precise. The satellites have a mass of about 1620 kg, with the payload mass being 435 kg. Their operational lifetime is expected to be 10 years. The mean power consumption of the spacecraft is 700 W, which is satisfied by solar panels providing 1.7 kW of power. Elektro–L has a modular design, consisting of a payload and a service module. The service module, called Navigator and developed by NPO Lavochkin ,
119-402: Is forced to use meteorological data provided by American and European meteorological services. Aerospace journalist Anatoly Zak wrote that the launch of the first Elektro–L satellite marked the "re-emergence of Russia's space industry after two decades of economic turmoil", as the spacecraft and its standardised Navigator platform were both conceived and developed after the disintegration of
136-614: Is only subject to prior requests. Elektro-L No.2 Elektro-L No.2 is a Russian geostationary weather satellite which launched on 11 December 2015. It is the second Elektro-L spacecraft to fly, after Elektro-L No.1 launched in 2011. The Elektro-L No. 2 satellite system was developed by Lavockhin and is part of the second generation of Russian geosynchronous weather satellites. The space platform has an upgrade in star trackers (EADS Sodern SED26) and radio complex. The MSU-GS camera also passed additional tests to improve performance in infrared channels. Originally planned for 2014,
153-565: The Fregat rocket upper stages, satellites and interplanetary probes. It is a contractor for a number of military programs, such as the Oko early warning satellite , Prognoz and Araks programmes as well as the civilian program Kupon . One of the company's most notable projects was the participation in the failed Fobos-Grunt sample return mission . NPO Lavochkin has also developed the Elektro–L series of new-generation weather satellites, as well as
170-568: The Lunokhod program , Vega program , Phobos program , etc. The former OKB-301 became named NPO Lavochkin . In January 2012, officials of Lavochkin faced administrative punishment for not taking into account of designing the computer system after the crash of Russia's Mars moon spacecraft Fobos-Grunt . The S. A. Lavochkin NGO has its own museum. It was founded on June 25, 1965. Museum address: 24 Leningradskaya str., Khimki, Moscow region, 141400. The visit
187-460: The Fregat-SB continued lifting the spacecraft into geostationary orbit. The satellite separated from the upper stage at 00.28 on 21 January. On 21 January, Roscosmos announced that the spacecraft was fully operational. "We have completed the first series of the testing. The spacecraft is fully operational", Deputy Head Anatoly Shilov said. The satellite's final orbital position in geostationary orbit
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#1732855477160204-467: The Navigator standardised satellite platform, which will serve as the basis for several future Russian satellites. The company was founded in 1937 as OKB-301 , a Soviet aircraft design bureau (OKB). The head designer was Vladimir P. Gorbunov [ ru ] , supported by Mikhail Gudkov [ ru ] and Semyon Lavochkin . In October 1945 Lavochkin was promoted for the head designer of
221-566: The Soviet Union . The Elektro–L satellites are capable of providing weather analysis and forecasting both for the territory of Russia and worldwide. The satellites are able to image the entire hemisphere of Earth in visible and infrared frequencies, additionally providing data on climate change , as well as sea and ocean monitoring. An Elektro–L satellite can also be used to receive and relay COSPAS-SARSAT emergency signals. The addition of Elektro–L No.1 to Russia's weather satellite network
238-476: The design bureau. The bureau gained distinction for its family of piston-engined fighter aircraft during World War II, and later shifted to missile and jet fighter designs. Following the death of the head designer, the OKB-301 succumbed to the growing power of Vladimir Chelomey and became OKB-52 Branch No. 3 on 18 December 1962. Later, it turned to work on interplanetary probe designs for Luna sample return program,
255-513: The interval can be shortened to 10 minutes. The camera is an optical-mechanical scanner, sampling the visible bands at 12,576 pixels per line. Sensor data downlink to Ground Acquisition and Distribution Center uses a X-band (7.5 GHz) frequency and has a data rate of 2.56-15.36 Mbits per second, while exchange of data between regional centers in X-band (at 8.2 and 7.5 GHz) offers data rates of up to 15.36 Mbit/s. The first spacecraft of
272-477: The series, Elektro-L No.1 , was launched at 15.29 Moscow Time (12:29 GMT) on 20 January 2011 from Pad 45 at Baikonur Cosmodrome . The launch vehicle used was a Zenit-2SB , developed by the Ukrainian Yuzhnoe Design Bureau . The rocket's third stage was a newly developed Fregat-SB , a variation of the baseline Fregat, developed by Russia's NPO Lavochkin . At 15.37, the second stage separated and
289-465: Was launched in 1994. Like Elektro–L, it was also designed to operate in geostationary orbit, but never became fully operational. Along with the earlier Meteor-M series, Elekto–L satellites are part of Russia's aim to restore its weather satellite network. Before the launch of Elektro–L No.1, Russia had only one operational weather satellite in orbit: Meteor-M No.1 , operating in an 830-km circular Sun-synchronous orbit . Due to lack of satellites, Russia
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