The first Russian satellite "Arktika-M" for monitoring the climate and environment in the Arctic region is planned to be launched by a Soyuz-2.1 b carrier rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome on Sunday, February 28.
It is noted that the launch of a rocket with a satellite is scheduled for February 28 at 9.55 Moscow time from the 31st site of Baikonur, according to the website of Roscosmos. This will be the third Russian space launch in 2020. A total of 29 space launches are planned this year.
The Arctic-M satellites are designed to monitor the climate and environment in the Arctic region. The launch of the second "Arctic-M" is planned in 2023, and three more satellites - in 2024-2025. They are expected to be replaced by five Arctic-MP satellites after 2025.
According to the set of equipment, the "Arctic-M "will be similar to the geostationary meteorological devices of the"Electro-L" series. The satellite will be placed in a highly elliptical orbit, which will allow it to collect meteorological and hydrological information about the state of the polar regions of the Earth, which are poorly visible from the "Electro-L".
After the two Arktika-M spacecraft are put into orbit, the Hydrometeorological Center will continuously receive operational information about the state of the atmosphere and the surface at the Earth's poles. This will improve the accuracy of models when making short-term weather forecasts and will give scientists a large amount of new data to study the phenomenon of global climate change.
