Meteor-3
Official name METEOR 3-1
Alternative name Meteor 3-1
Cospar ID 1985-100A
Norad ID 16191
Launch date 1985-10-24
Launch site PKMTR
Launch vehicle Tsiklon-3
Country/Organization Russia
Type application Meteorology
RCS size LARGE
Decay date ON ORBIT
Period (min) 109.32
Inclination (deg) 82.55
Perigee (km) 1179
Apogee (km) 1211
Eccentricity 0.0133891213389121
Mean motion (revs. per day) 13.172338090011
Semi-Major axis (km) 7573.135
Raan (deg) 219.7127
Arg of perigee (deg) 118.3427
Shape Cyl + 2 Pan
Mass (kg) 1750
Diameter (m) 2.4
Height (m) 6.5
Span (m^2) 12.7
Lifetime 2 years
Contractors VNIIEM
Configuration SP-2 bus
Power 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries

The Meteor-3 series was the third generation of soviet meteorological satellites. They were based on the Meteor-2 series.

The regular instrumentation consisted of:

  • TV camera systems MR-2000M and MR-900B
  • Klimat (Infrared Radiometer)
  • SM (Multichannel Spectrometer)
  • RMK-2 (Radiation Measurement Complex)

Meteor-3 6 carried additionally a TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) instrument provided by NASA, similar to the one flown on Nimbus 7.

Meteor-3 7 also carried additional instruments: The ScaRaB (Scanner for Radiation Budget) cross-track scanning radiometer provided by CNES [France), Russia (Planeta, RKA) and Germany (GKSS); PRARE (Precise Range And Range-Rate Equipment), a German Microwave Tracking System); and a laser retro reflector array.

The Meteor-3 series was to be replaced by the improved Meteor-3M series, of which only one satellite was launched.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
COSMOS 1612 1984-120A 1984-11-27 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 3-1 1985-100A 1985-10-24 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 3-2 1988-064A 1988-07-26 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 3-3 1989-086A 1989-10-24 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 3-4 1991-030A 1991-04-24 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 3-5 1991-056A 1991-08-15 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 3-6 1994-003A 1994-01-25 PKMTR Tsiklon-3 with Tubsat B