Images of Lacross 5

[Soheil_Esy]

The Altai Optical-Laser Center near Savvushka, Russia has imaged Lacrosse 5. The telescope uses adaptive optical system.

Lacrosse 5, Lacrosse 4, Lacrosse 3 and Lacrosse 2

The telescope is shown above and sample images of Lacrosse 5 shows that it has a planar radar antenna, unlike the dish antennas of earlier Lacrosses.

Source:
http://aero.tamu.edu/sites/default/files/images/Alfriend/S4 3 Aleshin.pdf
http://zerohedge.whotrades.com/blog...ce=idealmedia&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=post
http://fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/lacrosse-album.pdf

 

[boogabooga]

I would interpret the rectangular planer part to be the solar panel and the round part at the bottom to be the antenna. You can see the orientation of that bottom round part is changing.

 

[Soheil_Esy]

Video of Lacross 5

This video by Thierry Legault may show the rectangular planar radar antenna producing both a flare and a fade.

During the passage, the brightness of the satellite decreases by 10 times in 4 seconds (a loss of 2.5 magnitude), and after 33 seconds regains its original level in about 6 seconds. This satellite often shows this very singular behaviour (sudden loss of brightness can affect a tumbling satellite, but this is not the case here), even the other Lacrosse satellites do not share it. It is called by the observers (especially Marco Langbroek) the "disappearance trick".

Lacrosses are imaging reconnaissance satellites equipped with an aperture synthesis radar. Size is 13 m by 4.5 m