Meteor-2
Official name METEOR 2-3
Alternative name Meteor 2-3
Cospar ID 1977-117A
Norad ID 10514
Launch date 1977-12-14
Launch site PKMTR
Launch vehicle Vostok-2M
Country/Organization USSR
Type application Meteorology
RCS size LARGE
Decay date ON ORBIT
Period (min) 102.05
Inclination (deg) 81.21
Perigee (km) 839
Apogee (km) 872
Eccentricity 0.0192869666861485
Mean motion (revs. per day) 14.1107300342969
Semi-Major axis (km) 7233.635
Raan (deg) 265.8211
Arg of perigee (deg) 355.1672
Shape Cyl + 2 Pan
Mass (kg) 1500
Diameter (m) 1.4
Height (m) 4.5
Span (m^2) 4.5
Contractors VNIIEM
Equipment TV, IR, SM, RMK-2
Configuration SP-1 bus
Power 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries

The Meteor-2 series was the second generation of soviet meteorological satellites. They were based on the Meteor-1 series.

The instrument complement consisted of three television-type (frame technique) VIS and IR scanners, a five-channel scanning radiometer and a radiometer (RMK-2) for measuring radiation flux densities in the near-Earth space.

Meteor-2 21 carried additionally to its regular payload an unique Fizeau Retro Reflector Array (RRA) for Satellite Laser Ranging applications.

Initially the satellites were orbited by the Vostok-2M launch vehicle, which was replaced beginning in 1982 with the Tsiklon-3 launch vehicle. They were flown in non-sun-synchronous polar orbits with altitudes between 850 and 950 km and inclinations of 81-82º

The Meteor-2 series was replaced by the Meteor-3 series.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
METEOR 2-1 1975-064A 1975-07-11 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-2 1977-002A 1977-01-06 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-3 1977-117A 1977-12-14 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-4 1979-021A 1979-03-01 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-5 1979-095A 1979-10-31 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-6 1980-073A 1980-09-09 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-7 1981-043A 1981-05-14 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-8 1982-025A 1982-03-25 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-9 1982-116A 1982-12-14 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-10 1983-109A 1983-10-28 PKMTR Vostok-2M
METEOR 2-11 1984-072A 1984-07-05 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-12 1985-013A 1985-02-06 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-13 1985-119A 1985-12-26 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-14 1986-039A 1986-05-27 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-15 1987-001A 1987-01-05 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-16 1987-068A 1987-08-18 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-17 1988-005A 1988-01-30 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-18 1989-018A 1989-02-28 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-19 1990-057A 1990-06-27 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-20 1990-086A 1990-09-28 PKMTR Tsiklon-3
METEOR 2-21 1993-055A 1993-08-31 PKMTR Tsiklon-3 with Temisat