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Olymp-K
Mission type Military, ELINT
Operator FSB
COSPAR ID2014-058A [1]
SATCAT no.40258 [1]
Mission duration15 years
Spacecraft properties
Bus Ekspress-2000
Manufacturer JSC Information Satellite Systems
Launch mass3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date28 September 2014, 20:23 (2014-09-28UTC20:23Z) UTC
Rocket Proton-M/ Briz-M
Launch site Baikonur 81/24 [1]
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric 167° East
Regime Geosynchronous
Perigee altitude35,780 kilometres (22,230 mi) [1]
Apogee altitude35,798 kilometres (22,244 mi) [1]
Inclination0.05 degrees [1]
Period1436.24 minutes [1]
Epoch5 October 2015, 09:00 UTC [1]
 

Olymp-K (Russian: Олимп-К meaning Olympus) is a Russian geostationary satellite built for the Russian Ministry of Defence and Federal Security Service (FSB). The satellite is also referred to as "Luch". [2] It is believed to be a signals intelligence satellite. [2]

Launch

Olymp-K was launched on 28 September 2014. The Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome launchpad 81/24 in Kazakhstan at 20:23 UTC. [3] [1] [4] After four burns of the Briz-M upper stage it was placed into geosynchronous transfer orbit. [4] [1] In a press release on 28 September 2014, Roscosmos referred to the satellite as " Luch". [5]

Manoeuvres

Following its launch, the Olymp-K satellite made several manoeuvres before settling at 18.1° West longitude around 4 April 2015. The satellite was then positioned in an orbit directly between Intelsat 901, which was located at 18° West, and Intelsat 7, located at 18.2° West. [4] It remained in geosynchronous orbit between the satellites for five months. At times, Olymp-K performed colocation manoeuvres, positioning itself around 10 kilometres from the satellites. [4] In September 2015, the satellite was manoeuvred to a position at 24.4° West, adjacent to the Intelsat 905 satellite. [6] While JFCC SPACE spokesperson and Air Force Captain Nicholas Mercurio said there were three occasions where the Olymp-K satellite had come within five kilometres of another satellite, an industry source indicated that Air Force data were predictions based on drift rates and that Olymp-K's approach had not brought it closer than 10 kilometres to the Intelsat satellites. [4] According to the head of Russia’s Space Policy Institute, the satellite was being moved because of “communications problems”. [7] As of December 2019, the satellite was located at 70.6° East Longitude. [8] Since then, ii has made more moves west, and since summer 2022, it's located at 18°W again. [9]

On the 7 September 2018, France's Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, claimed that in 2017 a Luch-Olymp spacecraft had crept close to the Athena-Fidus satellite, a French-Italian satellite launched in 2014 and used for secure military communications and the planning of operations. Parly said, "Trying to listen to one’s neighbor is not only unfriendly. It’s called an act of espionage." [10] [2]

Analysis and response

Intelsat criticized the maneouvres, with Intelsat General president Kay Sears saying that "this is not normal behavior and we're concerned." [4] Attempts by Intelsat to contact the owners of the Russian satellite directly and via the US Defense Department did not receive a response. Members of the space community consider the incident to be among the first documented instances of a foreign military satellite approaching a commercial operator in such a manner. [4]

In a 5 October analysis of Russian proximity and rendezvous operations written for the Space Review, Secure World Foundation technical adviser Brian Weeden highlighted Olymp-K's movements. In his paper, he wrote that many Russian space program observers believe the satellite mission involves signals intelligence or communications. [11] [4] Observers also speculated whether there is a connection between Olymp-K and the Yenisey A1 (Luch 4) experimental satellite. [6] A Kommersant report indicated that Olymp-K would provide secure governmental communications as well as electronic intelligence (SIGINT). [12] Sources have also reported that the satellite has an onboard laser communications device and will provide the GLONASS system with navigation correction signals. [6]

Olymp-K's maneouvres were reported to have led to several classified meetings within the U.S. Defense Department. [4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "2014-058". Zarya.info. 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  2. ^ a b c Chrisafis, Angelique (7 September 2018). "'Act of espionage': France accuses Russia of trying to spy on satellite data". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  3. ^ Zak, Anatoly (19 October 2015). "Proton successfully returns to flight delivering a secret Olymp satellite". Russian Space Web. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gruss, Mike (9 October 2015). "Russian Satellite Maneuvers, Silence Worry Intelsat". SpaceNews.
  5. ^ "Космический аппарат "Луч" выведен на расчетную орбиту". Новости Роскосмоса (in Russian). 28 September 2014. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter Dirk. "Luch (Olimp-K)". space.skyrocket.de. Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. ^ Gruss, Mike (20 October 2015). "From Russia, Unofficial Assurance about Intent of Lurking Luch Satellite". SpaceNews. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  8. ^ Roberts, Thomas G. (2020). "Unusual Behavior in GEO: Luch (Olymp-K)". CSIS Aerospace Security. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 1 Jul 2020.
  9. ^ http://www.celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/graph-geo.php?CATNR=40258
  10. ^ ‘Espionage:' French defense head charges Russia of dangerous games in space, John Leicester & Sylvie Corbet, Associated Press / Defense News, 2018-09-08
  11. ^ Weeden, Brian (5 October 2015). "Dancing in the dark redux: Recent Russian rendezvous and proximity operations in space (page 2)". The Space Review. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  12. ^ Сафронов, Иван (24 March 2014). "Анатолия Шилова приняли на госслушбу". Газета "Коммерсантъ" (in Russian). p. 2. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
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