Volga-Dnepr airlifts telecommunications satellite
05 / 03 / 2015
A VOLGA-DNEPR Airlines An-124-100 ‘Ruslan’ freighter has delivered the Luch-5V and KazSat-3 telecommunications satellites from Krasnoyarsk in Russia to Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The satellites, weighing a combined 21 tonens, were secured inside a 14 metres long, three metres wide and more than four metres high container.
The container was placed carefully onto the aircraft’s loading ramp using an external crane and then winched into the cargo hold using the An-124’s own onboard handling system.
The flight also carried support equipment for the satellites.
The Luch-5V is the third of four satellites designed to serve more remote Russian territory with enhance information reception and real-time broadcasting.
Alexander Prokofiev, senior load planning and logistics engineer at Volga-Dnepr Airlines, says: “A satellite is a very hi-tech, high value and delicate piece of cargo that requires special handling throughout the transportation process.
