The Multifunctional Space Relay System (MSRS) "Luch" (the operating organization is JSC Gonets Satellite System, part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), successfully completed the tasks of targeted application during the launch of the Meteor-M spacecraft No. 2-4.
On February 29, at 08:43 Moscow time, a successful launch of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage, Meteor-M hydrometeorological spacecraft No. 2-4 and 18 Russian and foreign small satellites took place from the Vostochny cosmodrome. The operation of the launch vehicle, the separation of the upper stage from the third stage of the rocket and the launch of all spacecraft into specified orbits were carried out in normal mode. On March 1, the first images were already received from the new Meteor-M hydrometeorological spacecraft No. 2-4.
During the launch of the launch vehicle, the relay channels of the MSRS "Luch" were activated, which transmitted telemetry data from the low-speed subscriber relay equipment installed on the Fregat upper stage to the unified flight control center of the upper stages (UFCC US). 2 spacecrafts of the system were involved in the organization of data transmission: Luch-5A and Luch-5B, as well as a ground-based relay support complex.
The Meteor-M spacecraft No. 2-4 is designed to solve problems of hydrometeorological support, climate and environmental monitoring, study of Earth's natural resources, control the heliogeophysical situation in near-Earth space, receive information from automatic measuring platforms for data collection and relay signals from emergency beacons of the international satellite search and rescue system COSPAS-SARSAT.
Photo: Roscosmos State Corporation
