A Russian Soyuz 2.1A/Fregat M rocket successfully launched the Meridian 6 military communications satellite at 1142 GMT on 14 November from the Plesetsk Missile and Space Centre in Northern Russia. The satellite seperated from the rocket’s Fregat M upper stage as planned at 1400 GMT on the same day.
The Meridian satellites are built in Russia by ISS Reshetnev and replaced the Molniya series of military communications satellites. The satellites fly in the highly elliptical “Molniya” orbit to provide communications services to the Russian military in the Northern reaches of the country and Northern waters.
