| Olymp-K | |
| Mission Type: | Military, ELINT |
| Operator: | FSB |
| Cospar Id: | 2014-058A |
| Satcat: | 40258 |
| Mission Duration: | 15 years |
| Spacecraft Bus: | Ekspress-2000 |
| Manufacturer: | JSC Information Satellite Systems |
| Launch Date: | UTC |
| Launch Site: | Baikonur 81/24 |
| Orbit Epoch: | 5 October 2015, 09:00 UTC |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric 167° East |
| Orbit Regime: | Geosynchronous |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 35780km (22,230miles) |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 35798km (22,244miles) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 0.05 degrees |
| Orbit Period: | 1436.24 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
Olymp-K (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". It is believed to be a signals intelligence satellite.
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.[1] After four burns of the Briz-M upper stage it was placed into geosynchronous transfer orbit.[2] In a press release on 28 September 2014, Roscosmos referred to the satellite as "Luch".[3]
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.[5] 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”.[6] As of December 2019, the satellite was located at 70.6° East Longitude.[7] Since then, ii has made more moves west, and since summer 2022, it's located at 18°W again.[8]
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."[9]
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.[10] [4] Observers also speculated whether there is a connection between Olymp-K and the Yenisey A1 (Luch 4) experimental satellite.[5] A Kommersant report indicated that Olymp-K would provide secure governmental communications as well as electronic intelligence (SIGINT).[11] Sources have also reported that the satellite has an onboard laser communications device and will provide the GLONASS system with navigation correction signals.[5]
Olymp-K's maneouvres were reported to have led to several classified meetings within the U.S. Defense Department.[4]