{
  "id": "meridian",
  "name": "Meridian / Meridian-M",
  "aliases": [
    "14F112M"
  ],
  "domain": "space",
  "country": "RUS",
  "category": "Military communications satellites",
  "status": "in-service",
  "fielded": null,
  "operators": [
    "RUS"
  ],
  "summary": "Molniya-orbit communications satellites replacing Molniya series.",
  "specs": [
    {
      "k": "orbit_regime",
      "v": "HEO (Molniya)",
      "src": [
        "gsp-meridian-m"
      ],
      "conf": "medium"
    },
    {
      "k": "orbit_text",
      "v": "900 km × 39,000 km, 65°",
      "src": [
        "gsp-meridian-m"
      ],
      "conf": "medium"
    },
    {
      "k": "sats_count",
      "v": 4,
      "src": [
        "gsp-meridian-m"
      ],
      "conf": "medium",
      "note": "Meridian-M 8–11 (2019–2026); two more planned"
    },
    {
      "k": "design_life_yr",
      "v": 7,
      "src": [
        "gsp-meridian-m"
      ],
      "conf": "medium"
    },
    {
      "k": "on_orbit",
      "v": 7,
      "src": [
        "celestrak-gp"
      ],
      "conf": "high",
      "note": "Payloads with current element sets in the public catalog, active or not."
    },
    {
      "k": "active_sats",
      "v": 5,
      "src": [
        "celestrak-gp"
      ],
      "conf": "medium",
      "note": "Count in the CelesTrak active satellites list, which estimates operational status."
    },
    {
      "k": "perigee_km",
      "v": [
        1293,
        2650
      ],
      "src": [
        "celestrak-gp"
      ],
      "conf": "high",
      "note": "Active satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08."
    },
    {
      "k": "apogee_km",
      "v": [
        37708,
        39060
      ],
      "src": [
        "celestrak-gp"
      ],
      "conf": "high",
      "note": "Active satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08."
    },
    {
      "k": "period_min",
      "v": [
        717.7,
        717.9
      ],
      "src": [
        "celestrak-gp"
      ],
      "conf": "high",
      "note": "Active satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08."
    },
    {
      "k": "inclination_deg",
      "v": [
        62.7,
        65.54
      ],
      "src": [
        "celestrak-gp"
      ],
      "conf": "high",
      "note": "Active satellites per CelesTrak, element epoch about 2026-11-08."
    }
  ],
  "payloads": [],
  "variants": [],
  "art": "satellite",
  "image": null,
  "verified": null,
  "changelog": [
    {
      "date": "2026-11-08",
      "change": "Entry created from cited open sources"
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-11-08",
      "change": "Orbital elements from CelesTrak GP data (epoch about 2026-11-08): 7 catalogued, 5 active."
    }
  ],
  "satellites": [
    {
      "name": "MERIDIAN 3",
      "norad": 37212,
      "cospar": "2010-058A",
      "perigee_km": 1808,
      "apogee_km": 38547,
      "inclination_deg": 63.45,
      "period_min": 717.8,
      "epoch": "2026-11-06",
      "active": false,
      "owner": null,
      "launch": null
    },
    {
      "name": "MERIDIAN 6",
      "norad": 38995,
      "cospar": "2012-063A",
      "perigee_km": 564,
      "apogee_km": 39790,
      "inclination_deg": 63.48,
      "period_min": 717.8,
      "epoch": "2026-11-04",
      "active": false,
      "owner": null,
      "launch": null
    },
    {
      "name": "MERIDIAN 7",
      "norad": 40296,
      "cospar": "2014-069A",
      "perigee_km": 2650,
      "apogee_km": 37708,
      "inclination_deg": 63.45,
      "period_min": 717.8,
      "epoch": "2026-11-07",
      "active": true,
      "owner": "CIS",
      "launch": "2014-10-30"
    },
    {
      "name": "MERIDIAN 8",
      "norad": 44453,
      "cospar": "2019-046A",
      "perigee_km": 1293,
      "apogee_km": 39060,
      "inclination_deg": 63.27,
      "period_min": 717.7,
      "epoch": "2026-11-06",
      "active": true,
      "owner": "CIS",
      "launch": "2019-07-30"
    },
    {
      "name": "MERIDIAN 9",
      "norad": 45254,
      "cospar": "2020-015A",
      "perigee_km": 2093,
      "apogee_km": 38262,
      "inclination_deg": 65.54,
      "period_min": 717.8,
      "epoch": "2026-11-08",
      "active": true,
      "owner": "CIS",
      "launch": "2020-02-20"
    },
    {
      "name": "MERIDIAN 10",
      "norad": 52145,
      "cospar": "2022-030A",
      "perigee_km": 2048,
      "apogee_km": 38312,
      "inclination_deg": 62.7,
      "period_min": 717.9,
      "epoch": "2026-11-07",
      "active": true,
      "owner": "CIS",
      "launch": "2022-03-22"
    },
    {
      "name": "MERIDIAN-M 21L",
      "norad": 68571,
      "cospar": "2026-071A",
      "perigee_km": 1363,
      "apogee_km": 38995,
      "inclination_deg": 62.84,
      "period_min": 717.8,
      "epoch": "2026-11-07",
      "active": true,
      "owner": "CIS",
      "launch": "2026-04-03"
    }
  ],
  "url": "https://www.defensepedia.com/systems/meridian.html",
  "sources": {
    "gsp-meridian-m": {
      "title": "Meridian-M (14F112M)",
      "publisher": "Gunter's Space Page",
      "url": "https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/meridian-m.htm",
      "published": null,
      "tier": 3,
      "checked": "2026-11-08"
    },
    "celestrak-gp": {
      "title": "NORAD GP element sets (current data)",
      "publisher": "CelesTrak (data from the U.S. Space Force 18th/19th Space Defense Squadron catalog)",
      "url": "https://celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/",
      "published": "2026-11-08",
      "tier": 1,
      "checked": "2026-11-08"
    }
  }
}