GLONASS-M

GLONASS-M (ГЛОНАСС-М), also known as Uragan-M (Ураган-М) (GRAU Index 11F654M and manufacturing code 14F113) are the second generation of Uragan satellite design used as part of the Russian GLONASS radio-based satellite navigation system. Developed by Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems, it had its debut launch in 2003, and is in the process of being phased out. Its production is expected to finish in 2015 and as of July, 2015, its last launch is expected on late 2017. It is an evolution of the previous Uragan (GRAU Index 11F654) second-generation satellites, improving accuracy, increasing power, extending the design life and adding the FDMA L2OF open signal.

Design
It used a 3-axis stabilized pressurized bus with two solar panels, a propulsion module and a payload module. At 1415 kg these are just 2 kg heavier than the previous generation, but have 25% more power 1250 W, 230% more desgin life (7 years), an additional signal (L2OF) and generally improved accuracy. It uses an on-board computer based on a Russian microprocessor using the VAX 11/750 instruction set (the Angstrem K1839 (Russian Wikipedia)).

The Uragan-M are usually launched in trios, and due to the close distance, the radios of the thee would interfere with each other, meaning that the ground segment can only command one satellite at a time. Setting sun pointing attitude for power and then Earth pointing attitude for communications for a single unit takes about 5 hours. Since the radio contact window with ground control is between 4 to 6 hours, ground control can not control all spacercafts in a single pass. The on board computer in the Uragan-M can put the spacecraft in sun pointing mode autonomously, and does many of the start up processes so the ground segment can take control and process the Earth pointing mode. The payload consists of L-Band navigation signals in 25 channels separated by 0.5625 MHz intervals in 2 frequency bands: 1602.5625 - 1615.5 MHz and 1240 - 1260 MHz. EIRP 25 to 27 dBW. Right hand circular polarized. It transmits the FDMA signals L1OF, L1SF, L2OF and L2SF, with the open L2OF being new to the Uragan series. It uses 3 Cs clocks with a clock stability of 1x10-13 (an 5x improvement over the 5x10-13 clock stability of the previous generation Uragan).

History
The first generation Uragan spacecraft were created under ban of foreign radiation-hardened components and thus had been an inferior product with just 3 years of expected design life. Given the realized average life was just 22 months, and the fleet should have 24 spacecraft, it was necessary to launch more than 7 spacecraft per year to keep the fleet in good health. To this end, the Uragan-M was designed, with an increased design life of 7 years, thanks to the availability of ITAR controlled parts.

On December 1, 2001, a prototype might have been launched. Kosmos 2382 is identified by some sources as an Uragan-M, but the official documentation generally lists 2003 as the launch date of the first Uragan-M satellite. On December 10, 2003, the first operational Uragan-M was launched by a Proton-K/Briz-M from Baikonur along two Uragan Block IIv satellites. On December 26, 2004 the second operational Uragan-M was launched by a Proton-K/DM-2, also along two Uragan Block IIv satellites. And on December 25, 2005, two Uragan-M were launched along the last Uragan Block IIv satellites.

On December 25, 2006 launched the first trio of only Uragan-M. Two launches by late 2007 meant that six additional Uragan-M were added to the fleet. And another six were successfully launched in 2008. On September 12, 2008 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed RF Government Resolution on increasing GLONASS Program financing by 67 billion rubles. 2009 saw the launch of a single trio of Uragan-M, and with nine spacecraft planned for 2010, full service availability was expected. Regrettably, the third launch of 2010 ended in failure, leaving no on-orbit spares.

On October 2, 2011, the first launch of single Uragan-M satellite was performed by a Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M which put Kosmos 2474 on orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Another Proton-M launched trio and an additional Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M launch put the fleet at full operative capacity with 24 healthy satellites. On April 26, 2013 a Soyuz successfully orbited Kosmos 2485, but the Proton-M mission failed spectacularly taking with it a trio of Uragan-M. During 2014, two satellites were launched by Soyuz in March and June.

On a May 28, 2014 interview, Nikolay Testoyedov &mdash; president of ISS Reshetnev &mdash; stated that production of GLONASS-M would end in 2015, with GLONASS-K being exclusively produced after that final batch. In an December 14, 2014 interview with GPS World, he stated that while the original idea was to have just two GLONASS-K1 prototypes to be followed by the GLONASS-K2 production, the Western sanctions limited the supply of radiation resistant electronics. And thus, they had decided to launch an additional nine GLONASS-K1 as fleet replacement while they finished the GLONASS-K2 design. In a May, 2015 presentation, Mr. Testoyedov expected the last GLONASS-M to fly in late 2017. On July 30, 2015, ISS Reshtev announced that it had completed the last GLONASS-M (N° 61) spacecraft and it was putting it in storage waiting for launch, along an additional eight already built satellites.