Molniya communications satellites

E529487

Molniya communications satellites are Soviet/Russian spacecraft placed in highly elliptical Molniya orbits to provide long-duration communications coverage over high-latitude regions such as northern Russia.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form Occurrences
Molniya 1
Molniya satellites 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Russian spacecraft
Soviet spacecraft
communications satellite series
apogeeLocation over northern hemisphere
countryOfOrigin Russia
Soviet Union
coverageCharacteristic long dwell time over northern hemisphere
short dwell time over southern hemisphere
designedForCoverageOf high-latitude regions
northern Russia NERFINISHED
designedToOvercome poor geostationary coverage at high latitudes
developedBy Soviet space program NERFINISHED
firstLaunchDate 1964
launchVehicleUsed Molniya rocket NERFINISHED
Soyuz rocket variants NERFINISHED
namedAfter Molniya program NERFINISHED
nameMeaning Molniya means lightning in Russian NERFINISHED
notableUser Russian communications operators
Soviet civilian communications agencies
Soviet military
operatedBy Russian Federation NERFINISHED
Soviet Union NERFINISHED
orbitalRegime high Earth orbit
orbitArgumentOfPerigee about 270 degrees
orbitEccentricity highly elliptical orbit
orbitResonance 2:1 resonance with Earth rotation
perigeeLocation over southern hemisphere
primaryMission communications
military communications
television relay
programStatus largely replaced by newer systems
providesLongDurationCoverageOver Arctic regions
Siberia NERFINISHED
northern hemisphere high latitudes
successorTechnology Meridian communications satellites NERFINISHED
geostationary communications satellites over alternative longitudes
typicalApogeeAltitude about 39,000 kilometers
typicalConstellationSize several satellites for continuous coverage
typicalInclination about 63.4 degrees
typicalOperationalLifetime several years
typicalOrbitalPeriod about 12 hours
typicalPerigeeAltitude about 500 to 1,000 kilometers
usedFor civil communications
data relay
military communications
telephone and telegraph relay
television broadcasting to remote areas
usesOrbitType Molniya orbit NERFINISHED

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Molniya 8K78 alsoKnownAs Molniya communications satellites
this entity surface form: Molniya
Molniya-M rocket notablePayload Molniya communications satellites
subject surface form: Molniya-M
Soviet television usedSatelliteDistribution Molniya communications satellites
this entity surface form: Molniya satellites