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Russian relay satellite capable of dual tasks delivered to Baikonur

The data thus collected will then be transmitted by relay in the real-time format to the Russian ground stations

KRASNOYARSK, November 10 (Itar-Tass) – Russian relay satellite Luch-5A has been delivered to the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan from the East-Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

At the time of reporting, the technical specialists were rounding up the debarkation of a cargo container with the satellite from the Ruslan heavy-duty cargo jet.

After the completion of the container’s reloading to a railway platform, the satellite will be hauled to launching pad No. 31 of the space center where the preparations for its liftoff into space will begin.

The press service of Russia’s Federal Space Agency /Roscosmos/ said Thursday the launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M booster block and a cluster of two satellites – the Russian Luch-5A and the Israeli AMOS-5 – has been scheduled for December.

The Luch-5A has been built by the Siberian company Information Satellite Systems headquartered in Krasnoyarsk. It is a relay satellite designed to work in coordination with low-orbit satellites revolving around the earth at an altitude of up to 2,000 km.

It will receive the information from them, both telemetric and purpose-oriented one, in the legs of their flight outside the zone of vision from the Russian Federation’s territory.

The data thus collected will then be transmitted by relay in the real-time format to the Russian ground stations.

At the same time, it will have a capability to transmit control commands back to the space vehicles.

The Luch-5A has a system of a high-precision homing of its antennas at low-orbit missile and space objects, which makes it capable of seizing and escorting them along their flight path.

Also, the satellite is capable of receiving the signals of Cospas Sarsat system and re-transmitting them to ground-based stations.

In addition, the Luch-5A will transmit corrections to the measurements effectuated by the GLONASS system satellites. This in turn will help increase the precision of signal gauging.