The Luch-5 are the Russian follow-on relay satellites, which
replace the Luch (Altair) and Luch-2 (Gelios) satellites.
Two satellites named Luch 5A and Luch 5B were procured for launches in 2010 and 2011. The smaller satellites are based on the Ekspress-1000 bus and were launched with a co-passenger on Proton-M Briz-M boosters.
S- and Ku-band data relay channels of each satellite will be linked with receive/transmit points via satellite communications links.
Each data relay satellite is capable of orienting its high-precision antennas towards low-flying space objects so as to ?catch? and ?track? them along their trajectories. Moreover, each of the two user antennas is capable of tracking its ?own? low-flying space object. One antenna will operate in the Ku-band, the other ? in the S-band, with the Ku-band channel capacity at 150 Mbit/s and the S-band channel capacity at up to 5 Mbit/s.
The satellite carries also a payload to send differential correction signals for the GLONASS satellite navigation system. Additionally, the Luch-5B spacecraft carries a laser-communication device.
