Meteor-M No.2 (also known as Meteor M2) was the second Russian Meteor-M series of polar-orbit weather satellite. It was launched on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage on 8 July 2014. It was designed to operate for 5 years.
Meteor M2 had several problems during its operational life, beginning with a micrometeoroid impact on 18 December 2019, causing issues with its power system. The satellite began having issues orienting itself towards the surface of the earth, and the LRPT transmission system failed on 24 December 2022 It recovered with help from ground engineers, but it later reverted back to its original position and failed to stabilize. At the same time, X-band receiving stations around the globe reported signal degradation, which indicated that the satellite was also having problems controlling its attitude.
In January of 2023, Meteor M2 suffered a serious altitude control system failure, rendering its earth observation equipment unusable, however, the space weather instruments remained usable, but they were no longer considered operational and accurate for use in forecasting.
In 2024, the Russian state corporation that built the satellite, VNIIEM, announced that they would no longer support Meteor M2's HRPT logistics, rendering the satellite essentially inoperative.
It was formally declared as End-of-Life on 1 June 2024.
See also
Meteor
References