LUCH 5B

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LUCH 5B is classified as:

NORAD ID: 38977

Int'l Code: 2012-061A

Launch date: November 2, 2012
Source: Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) (CIS)
Launch site: TYURATAM MISSILE AND SPACE COMPLEX (TTMTR)

LUCH 5B will relay data, voice and video communications between the ground and the Russian segment of the International Space Station, satellites, and rockets in flight. The new craft is the second in a new generation of Luch data relay satellites. Russia launched the Luch 5A spacecraft in December 2011. The Luch system is Russia's counterpart to NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a network of spacecraft linking mission controllers with the space station, scientific satellites and rockets. Luch 5B weighed 2,513 pounds (1,140 kg) at launch and will operate for 10 years at 16 degrees west longitude over the Atlantic Ocean. Luch 5A covers the Indian Ocean.

1 38977U 12061A   26251.22800248 -.00000153  00000-0  00000+0 0  9995
2 38977  10.6590  49.0312 0006185 164.1550 199.9026  1.00269831 50447

Source of the keplerian elements: AFSPC