Prognoz, also known as SO (Solar Object, first three satellites), SO-M (SO-modified, next seven satellites) and SO-M2 (last two satellites, also known as

Interball Interbol (russian: Интербол) is an international space project under the leadership of the Russian Space Agency and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The list of participants includes the Institute of Atmosphe ...

) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

scientific research satellite programme. Twelve Prognoz satellites were launched between 14 April 1972 and 29 August 1996, by

Molniya-M The Molniya-M (russian: Молния, meaning "lightning"), designation 8K78M, was a Soviet Union (later Russian) launch vehicle derived from the R-7 Semyorka Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The original 8K78 booster had been the ...

carrier rockets. The satellites were placed in

High Earth orbit A high Earth orbit is a geocentric orbit with an altitude entirely above that of a geosynchronous orbit (). The orbital periods of such orbits are greater than 24 hours, therefore satellites in such orbits have an apparent retrograde motion ...

s. First ten Prognoz spacescrafts were launched from Site 31/6 at the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

and last two from Site 43/3 at the

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200&n ...

. The satellites were primarily used for Solar research, however the later satellites were used for other research, including research into the

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

theory, and Earth's

magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynam ...

.Encyclopedia Astronautica - Prognoz
The tenth satellite was used as part of the

Interkosmos Interkosmos (russian: Интеркосмос) was a Soviet space program, designed to help the Soviet Union's allies with crewed and uncrewed space missions. The program was formed in April 1967 in Moscow. All members of the program from USSR ...

programme.

Satellites

References

Earth observation satellites of the Soviet Union 4MV {{USSR-spacecraft-stub

Satellites

See also

References