Molniya-3 [ISS Reshetnev]
Official name MOLNIYA 3-17
Alternative name Molniya 3-17
Cospar ID 1981-105A
Norad ID 12915
Launch date 1981-10-17
Launch site PKMTR
Launch vehicle Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
Country/Organization USSR / Russia
Type application Communication
RCS size LARGE
Decay date 1997-01-09
Shape Cyl + 6 Pan
Mass (kg) 1750
Diameter (m) 1.6
Height (m) 3.6
Span (m^2) 8.1
Lifetime 3 years
Contractors NPO Prikladnoi Mekhaniki (NPO PM)
Propulsion KDU-414A (S5.114) or 11D414NS
Configuration KAUR-2
Power 6 deployable solar arrays (1000 W), batteries

The Molniya were Soviet communication satellites operating from an inclined highly elliptical earth orbit of 500 km × 40000 km with 12 hour period for coverage of high northern latitudes.

The Molniya satellites feature a unique configuration. The pressurized, three-axis stabilized KAUR-2 satellite bus features six non-articulated solar arrays and is operated in a sun-pointed mode. The antennas are mounted on two telescopic arms and are pointable. Each antenna features an optical tracking system which provides information to direct one of the two antennas to the Earth.

The KAUR-2 bus features the KDU-414A with the S5.114 engine. The last two satellites used the 11D414NS engine instead. It is derived from the propulsion system of the Venera 1VA probes.

The Molniya-3 satellites (11F637) are equipped with three Segment-3 transponders supplied by the MNIIRS. They are intended for civilian communications, and operate in C-band (6 GHz for uplinks, downlinks to 4G Hz). Two repeaters operate with a power of 40 W, and the third with a power of 80 W.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
MOLNIYA 3-1 1974-092A 1974-11-21 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-2 1975-029A 1975-04-14 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-3 1975-105A 1975-11-14 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-4 1975-125A 1975-12-27 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-5 1976-041A 1976-05-12 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-6 1976-127A 1976-12-28 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-7 1977-032A 1977-04-28 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-8 1977-105A 1977-10-28 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-9 1978-009A 1978-01-24 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-10 1978-095A 1978-10-13 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-11 1979-004A 1979-01-18 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-12 1979-048A 1979-06-05 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
SL-6 PLAT 1980-031C 1980-04-18 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-13 1980-063A 1980-07-18 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-14 1981-002A 1981-01-09 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-15 1981-030A 1981-03-24 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-16 1981-054A 1981-06-09 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
COSMOS 1305 1981-088A 1981-09-11 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-17 1981-105A 1981-10-17 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-18 1982-023A 1982-03-24 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-19 1982-083A 1982-08-27 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-20 1983-015A 1983-03-11 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-21 1983-090A 1983-08-30 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-22 1983-123A 1983-12-21 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-23 1985-004A 1985-01-16 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-24 1985-040A 1985-05-29 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-25 1985-061A 1985-07-17 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-26 1985-091A 1985-10-03 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-27 1985-117A 1985-12-24 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-28 1986-031A 1986-04-18 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-29 1986-049A 1986-06-19 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-30 1986-079A 1986-10-20 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-31 1987-008A 1987-01-22 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-32 1988-044A 1988-05-26 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-33 1988-090A 1988-09-29 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-34 1988-112A 1988-12-22 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-35 1989-043A 1989-06-08 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-36 1989-094A 1989-11-28 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-37 1990-006A 1990-01-23 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-38 1990-052A 1990-06-13 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-39 1990-084A 1990-09-20 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-40 1991-022A 1991-03-22 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-41 1991-065A 1991-09-17 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-42 1992-067A 1992-10-14 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-43 1992-085A 1992-12-02 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-44 1993-025A 1993-04-21 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-45 1993-049A 1993-08-04 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-46 1994-051A 1994-08-23 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-47 1995-042A 1995-08-09 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-48 1996-060A 1996-10-24 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-49 1998-040A 1998-07-01 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-50 1999-036A 1999-07-08 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-52 2001-050A 2001-10-25 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)
MOLNIYA 3-53 2003-029A 2003-06-19 PKMTR Molniya-M (Blok-ML)