The agency said that initially it is planned to deploy only two of these spacecraft with this type of orbit, but in 2022 it was approved to increase the fleet to four satellites.

As a result, it will be possible to reduce by half the interval between imaging and to produce more detailed short-term weather forecasts, as well as to detect and monitor, in advance, dangerous natural phenomenon and potential emergencies in the Arctic region, Roscosmos said.

The first Artika-M satellite was launched in 2021, while the deployment of the second is planned for the current year.

In March 2022, the then head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Sergeev, stated that no other nation will have similar satellites before 2028, and that four Artika-M devices will provide the opportunity for near-continuous observation with high resolution.

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