Soviet Weather Satellite Reenters Over Antarctica

Model of the Meteor satellite.

The Meteor 1-1 weather satellite, first of its kind for the the Soviet Union, reentered over the Queen Maud Land region of  Antarctica on Tuesday 27 after more than four decades in orbit. According to Col. Alexey Zolotukhin, Space Forces spokesman, “fragments of the Meteor 1-1 satellite entered the Earth’s atmosphere at 02:17 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday [22:17 GMT Monday].”

The Meteor satellite series was developed in the Soviet Union during the 1960s. Launched on March 26, 1969, exactly 43 years before its reentry, the Satellite remained operational until July 1970. With a mass of about 1.4 tons, the Meteor satellite was equipped with two solar panels and  instruments for both dayside and nightside view, allowing to caputure cloud cover, ice and snow fields, and reflected and emitted radiationof the earth-atmosphere system.

The Russian government, which currently uses meteorological data from U.S. and European weather agencies, is planning to revivethe Soviet network of weather satellites.

Read also: Meteor 1-1, Last Views of a Historic Spacecraft.

Andrea Gini

Andrea Gini is a scientific journalist and a professional of the space industry, working as a contractor on ISS Payload Safety. He is the Editor-in-chief of the Space Safety Magazine. Andrea is also Chairman of the Information and Communication Committee of the International Association for Advancement in Space Safety (IAASS), publisher of the Space Safety Magazine, and he is responsible for the communication strategy of the association, Andrea holds a BSc and an MSc in computer science from the University of Milano, a Master in scientific journalism from the International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste and a MSc in Space Studies from the International Space University.

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