Thread by @coastal8049

It turns out that #Meridian 9's apparently odd Argument of Perigee appears to be expected. While traditional thinking about the molniya orbit expects an AoP ~270 it turns out Meridian uses starting values of AoP of ~270 and ~295 degrees. MORE

There are four active satellites in the constellation. Two pairs are always at opposite apogee from each other and these pairs have AoP of 270 and 295. Presently M4(270)-M6(295) and M8(295)-M7(270). I've indicated the AoP for each s/c in the pair. MORE

Now if you examine the constellation history a pattern emerges. Meridian 8 shares the same initial AoP as Meridian 3, the s/c it replaced... MORE

The same is true for the recent launch of Meridian 9 which is replacing Meridian 6. This explains why when we assumed that Meridian 9 would have the same AoP as Meridian 7 we were wrong. MORE

Therefore, if the pattern holds we expect Meridian 4's replacement to have an AoP of ~295 and Meridian 7's replacement 270 degrees. MORE

The bigger picture question is why does the constellation have this odd pattern for the Argument of Perigee? Is there some elegant aerodynamics going on here to maintain the stability of the constellation perhaps? Looking forward to some thoughts on this.

Finally the Russian claims that the satellite arrived in the final expected orbit appear to be true based on this observation. tass.com/science/1122373