Russia To Launch Luch-5 Relay Satellite In March - Space Center

Russia's Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a Luch-5 relay satellite will be launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in March, the Yuzhny Space Center of the cosmodrome said on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2023) Russia's Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a Luch-5 relay satellite will be launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in March, the Yuzhny Space Center of the cosmodrome said on Saturday.

"This is Russia's Luch-5 relay satellite. It was delivered to the cosmodrome this week... In March, it will be launched into space on a Proton," the center said in a video uploaded to its YouTube channel.

Two years ago, sources in the space and rocket industry told Sputnik that the launch of the carrier rocket with the satellite - initially scheduled for 2021 - had been postponed to 2022. However, the satellite has not been launched yet.

Russia's Luch multifunctional space system relay currently consists of three satellite-relays, Luch-5A, Luch-5B and Luch-5V, deployed to orbit from 2011-2014. The satellites relay information to and from spacecraft, other vehicles and ground stations on Earth.