MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) – The launch of a Meteor-3M meteorological satellite scheduled for Tuesday evening from the Baikonur Cosmodrome has geopolitical significance for Russia and will allow it to reduce dependence on foreign satellites, Minister of the Russian Natural Resources and Ecology Sergey Donskoy said.
“The expansion of the range of Russian meteorological satellites has a geopolitical significance. Russia will gradually reduce its dependence on the data sent from foreign spacecraft. The launch of the second Meteor-M satellite will allow us to expand the number of meteorological satellites, which will to a large extent increase the efficiency of the data flow and forecast precision, as well as the quality of ecological monitoring data,” Donskoy said.
According to the minister, up until now the Russian Federal Service of Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of the Environment (Rosgidromet) has been receiving 90 percent of its meteorological data free of charge from foreign satellites, which does not correspond with national security. Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources plans to increase a number of meteosats from three to nine.
Meteor-M is the second spacecraft of the Meteor-3M complex, created as part of the Federal Space Program. After the launch, Meteor-M will allow the Russian meteorological service to obtain accurate and up-to-date data on radiation and weather conditions, screen the state of the ozone and monitor the sea surface.
