Communications
MERIDIAN 9
Russian Military/Civil Communications (Molniya Orbit) · Roscosmos / Russian Ministry of Defence
Right now
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Meridian 9, continuing Russia's decades-long Molniya-orbit communications program. Its highly elliptical orbit — dwelling for hours over the Arctic before swinging rapidly back through its low southern perigee — gives Russia continuous coverage of polar shipping routes and military installations that no single geostationary satellite could ever reliably serve.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Highly Ellipticalswings far out, then dives back close to Earth
- Altitude
- 1,274–23,809 mi (2,050–38,317 km)
- Inclination
- 65.5°
- One orbit
- 12.0 hours2.0 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 45254
- Int’l designator
- 2020-015A
- Launched
- 2020
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 21 Sep 2026.
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