A full-fledged constellation, increased from two to four Arktika-M hydrometeorological spacecraft, will be operational in orbit in 2031, the SeverPost reported, citing the Roscosmos press service.

As Aleksandr Sergeev, former head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said earlier, the system of four satellites will make it possible to monitor the Arctic every 15 minutes with good spatial and temporal resolution and to obtain up to two million images a year. The task of upgrading the system to four satellites was approved last year.

The apparatus, he said, will allow for the construction of cloud and ice maps.

This increase will help halve the periodicity of polar imaging to detail ultra-short-range weather forecasts, increasing the speed of detection and monitoring of natural hazards and emergencies in the Arctic region.