The Ionosfera-M No. 1 and No. 2 spacecraft, manufactured by VNIIEM Corporation (part of Roscosmos State Corporation), have been delivered to the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The Russian Fregat upper stage is already ready to put the new Ionozond complex for monitoring space weather into orbit, which includes the spacecraft.
The Ionozond space system was developed by VNIIEM under the order of Roscosmos in the interests of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Roshydromet. It will solve scientific and applied problems in obtaining fundamental knowledge about the Earth's ionosphere and will continuously monitor near-Earth space. It will include four Ionosfera-M spacecraft designed to monitor the state of the Earth's ionosphere.
The formation of the system's orbital constellation is planned using two group launches (the first is Ionosfera-M No. 1 and No. 2, the second is Ionosfera-M No. 3 and No. 4). The launch of the Ionosfera-M No. 1 and No. 2 spacecraft by the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage is scheduled for autumn 2024 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the date has not yet been announced.
The data obtained from the Ionosfera-M spacecraft will have not only scientific, but also applied significance: the microelectronics, communication and navigation systems, electrical energy transmission networks, pipelines and other high-tech systems widely implemented today are subject to the effects of solar and geomagnetic activity, leading to accidents and degradation of electronic systems. Therefore, the relevance of operational monitoring of the helio-geophysical situation and its forecast based on the scientific data obtained is growing every day.
Four Ionosfera-M spacecraft located in two orbital planes will transmit information about the physical phenomena occurring in the Earth's ionosphere as a result of active natural and anthropogenic influences.
They will monitor changes in the spatial-temporal structure of the ionosphere, disturbances in electromagnetic fields, the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, observe the distribution of ozone in its upper layers, monitor the radiation environment and perform a number of other tasks.
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