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A Molniya orbit (Russian: Молния, IPA: [ˈmolnʲɪjə] ⓘ, "Lightning") is a type of satellite orbit designed to provide communications and remote sensing coverage over high latitudes. It is a highly elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63.4 degrees , an argument of perigee of 270 degrees, and an orbital period of approximately half a ...
They were also based on the KAUR-2 bus, launching solely from Plesetsk. Earlier models were used for civilian communications in a similar orbit, but different purpose, to the military-only Molniya-1 satellites. From 1980s they were used by the military, and by the 1990s they were operated in the same manner as the Molniya 1 satellites. [17]
If the argument of perigee is non-zero, however, the satellite will behave differently in the northern and southern hemispheres. The Molniya orbit, with an argument of perigee near −90°, is an example of such a case. In a Molniya orbit, apogee occurs at a high latitude (63°), and the orbit is highly eccentric (e = 0.72). This causes the ...
A highly elliptical orbit (HEO) is an elliptic orbit with high eccentricity, usually referring to one around Earth. Examples of inclined HEO orbits include Molniya orbits , named after the Molniya Soviet communication satellites which used them, and Tundra orbits .
English: View of the Earth from the apogee of a Molniya orbit under the assumption that the longitude of the apogee is 90 deg W. The spacecraft is at an altitude of 39867 km over the point 90 deg W 63.43 deg. N
NASA_molniya_oblique.png (468 × 468 pixels, file size: 49 KB, MIME type: image/png) This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons . Information from its description page there is shown below.
English: View of the Earth 4 hours after apogee from a Molniya orbit under the assumption that the longitude of the apogee is 90 deg W. The spacecraft is at an altitude of 24043 km over the point 92.65 deg W 47.04 deg N.
Molniya (Russian for lightning) may refer to: Molniya (satellite), a Soviet military communications satellite Molniya orbit; Molniya (explosive trap), a KGB explosive device; Molniya (rocket), a variation of the Soyuz launch vehicle; OKB-4 Molniya, an experimental design bureau responsible for the Molniya R-60 and Vympel R-73 air-to-air missiles