Meteor-M No.2-1

Meteor-M No.2-1 (Russian: Метеор-М №2-1), was a Russian satellite, part of Meteor-M series of polar-orbit weather satellite.^[1] It was launched using Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage on 28 November 2017; the satellite failed to separate from the Fregat and communication was later lost.^[2]

Meteor-M No.2-1

Mission type	Weather
Operator	Roscosmos/Roshydromet
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	VNIIEM
Payload mass	2,700 kg
Start of mission
Launch date	28 November 2017 (2017-11-28Z) UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat
Launch site	Vostochny 1S
End of mission
Disposal	Failed launch
Deactivated	28 November 2017 (2017-11-29Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Meteor ← Meteor-M No.2 Meteor-M No.2-2 →

The cause of failure was determined to be faulty programming. The satellite was programmed with a launch point of Baikonur Cosmodrome, instead of the Vostochny Cosmodrome^[3] causing the satellite to enter an incorrect orbit.^[4] This was the second launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the first civilian launch site in Russia.^[5]

In addition to the ₽2.6bn Meteor-M weather satellite, 18 other scientific, research and commercial satellites from Russia, Norway, Sweden, the US, Japan, Canada and Germany were lost as well.^[5]

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