Multifunctional space relay system (MSRS) Loutch successfully fulfilled its mission at the launch of the carrier rocket "Soyuz-2.1 a" with transport manned spacecraft (TMS) "Soyuz MS-16", performed on 9 April at 11:05 Moscow time from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The held on a carrier rocket "Soyuz-2.1 a" launch was a second in a raw and the first manned one on the launcher of this type. In the crew which went to the International space station (ISS), are Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner and NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy.
After the release of the TMS "Soyuz MS-16" from the zone of radio visibility of ground-based communication means which occurs in the 11th minute of the flight, the transmission of telemetry data from the manned spacecraft was then carried out by means of MSRS "Loutch." For these purposes were used channels of spacecrafts "Luch-5A" and "Luch-5B", on-board equipment installed on the "Soyuz-MS", the ground-based infrastructure. Operators of JSC "Satellite system "Gonets" in a normal way fulfilled the tasks of planning and control of relay sessions in the hardware-software complex in Moscow.
In total, since the withdrawal of the ship in orbit till the completion of its docking with the ISS at 17:13 Moscow time, were successfully held 10 sessions relay. The target information was successfully received and transmitted to the end users.
Launch of "Soyuz-2.1 a" with a manned spacecraft "Soyuz MS-16"
