Issue 86

20 & 27 Nov 2023: The Space Review published two articles from the aforementioned Bart Hendrickx. The first article details the background and activities of Russia’s two GEO-based collection satellites: Olimp (aka Luch or Olymp-K 1); and Yenisei-2 (aka Luch-5X or Olymp-K 2). The second article describes the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) leadership role in the Olimp program, and the ground infrastructure likely supporting the eavesdropping satellites. Following are excerpts from both articles.

-After Luch went into orbit on September 27, 2014, it first drifted to 54.0°E and remained there for three months, seemingly undergoing in-orbit checkouts. It then began moving across the geostationary belt, regularly stopping close to other satellites, something it continues to do nine years after launch.

-The first satellites it visited were the Russian communications satellites Express-AM22 and Express-AM33 — the only Russian satellites it ever approached.

-Since then, it has parked near more than two dozen commercial communications satellites, for periods ranging from weeks to months.

-Currently, Luch is loitering near Intelsat-37e, which it has been shadowing since the summer of 2022, longer than any satellite it visited before. The distances between the two satellites continuously change, with Luch coming as close as 4 km to the Intelsat satellite on 31 October 2022.

– Even though Olimp is essentially a signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellite, it does not need to carry the huge antennas traditionally needed to pick up faint transmissions from the ground. All it has to do is tune its equipment to match the channels in use, record the signals for as long as needed, and then relay them to the ground like an ordinary communications satellite.

– After launch, Luch-5X slowly drifted to 78.7°E and then began moving backwards, finally coming to a stop at 58.0°E. This is where it appears to have undergone its initial orbital checkout, maintaining a normal distance of 0.5° from neighboring satellites.

– Unlike Luch/Olimp, Luch-5X did not stop by any Russian satellites first, and on 22 May settled at 8.9°E, right next to two satellites: Viasat’s KA-SAT (formerly known as Eutelsat KA-SAT 9A); and Eutelsat-9B.

– Luch-5X parted company with the two satellites on 27 September, and one week later arrived at 3.2°E, right next to Eutelsat-3B at 3.1°E. All this undoubtedly is just the beginning of a long voyage through the geostationary belt that will see Luch-5X visit multiple satellites over the coming years. From 3-5 Dec, Luch-5X maneuvered to a new Eutelsat target (53765).

– Available information suggests that Luch-5X uses some of the same payload components as Olimp, but is not identical to it.

– The FSB is not the most obvious organization to lead an effort to eavesdrop on foreign satellites. The FSB (roughly comparable to the FBI) is primarily a domestic security and counterintelligence agency that evolved from the KGB’s internal security departments.

-Currently, there is no evidence more eavesdropping satellites are under construction. The nearly nine-year gap between the launch of Luch and Luch-5X indicates these are not satellites that Russia plans to launch on a regular basis.