MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. One of Russia’s Meteor-M satellites has become uncontrollable following an external impact, presumably a micrometeorite strike, Russia’s Roscosmos state space corporation said on its website on Tuesday.
"On December 18, 2019, an emergency situation caused by external influence (presumably, a micrometeorite) was reported on board Meteor-M (identification number 2-2) spacecraft," the space agency said. "As a result, the parameters of the spacecraft’s orbit were changed, and it entered the non-directed flight mode with high angular velocity."
After that, the spacecraft switched to energy-saving mode.
When the satellite entered the Russian ground control zone and established contact with the ground, efforts to restore its operations have been launched.
At present, the satellite has resumed controlled flight. Specialists on the ground establish regular communication and control sessions with it, receiving telemetry data and other information.
Meteor-M No.2-2, launched from the Vostochny space center in Russia’s Far East on July 5, is a weather satellite designed by VNIIEM Corporation. It will become part of the space system of hydrometeorological and oceanographic support Meteor-3M and the space system based on it. The first vehicle in the series, Meteor-M No.1, was launched on September 17, 2009. The second vehicle, Meteor-M No.2, was launched in 2014. Meteor-M No.2-1 was lost following the launch failure in 2017.