Sphere Space programme of multi-satellite systems

"Sphere" is the development of the ideology of multi-satellite systems, already implemented in the GLONASS system, to solve global navigation problems. The Sphere system will provide consumers with mobile communications and surveillance services anywhere on Earth, which will contribute to the further informatization of society.

2024: "150 billion rubles is extremely small." Roscosmos complained not about the lack of financing for the Sphere

In June 2024, Roskosmos indicated the need to increase funding for the Sphere satellite system project. Deputy General Director of Roscosmos Alexander Bloshenko at the "round table" of the Federation Council "Development of satellite grouping in order to eliminate digital inequality in the Russian Federation" said the following:

In the federal project, the Ministry of Finance initially put up an amount of 95 billion rubles for all 10 groups... Now the figures for the entire Sphere project are about 150 billion rubles until 2030. This is extremely small. For this money, we provide only half of the Skif - 6 devices out of 12, 132 of the Marathon out of 264 and the minimum groups of DZZ [remote sensing of Zemlia]... We need to multiply budget funding.

According to Alexander Bloshenko, by June 2024, Roscosmos and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation agreed to return to the issue of financing after the launch of demonstrator devices and confirmation of technical solutions.

Then talking to them about financing the budget series will be easier. Because we understand that there are tasks that do not have such a financial return purely in banking terms. There are infrastructure things that the state, as a basis, should create, and then it will already generate revenue, - concluded Bloshenko.

He added that, if you look integrally, the budget funds in the project are no more than 15%.

The Sphere project will include five satellite communications groups and five groups of DZZ spacecraft. During 2024, Roscosmos is going to launch two satellites of the Internet of Things "Marathon IoT," then by the end of 2025 - five more spacecraft of this series.

Earlier, Alexander Bloshenko noted the importance of the Sphere project for the development of unmanned vehicles. According to the deputy head of Roscosmos, the satellite grouping can help in solving issues of an automatic identification system and automatic dependent monitoring-broadcasting for the operation of unmanned systems, creating an interference-resistant control channel and special geo-positioning.^[1]

2023

Roscosmos signed a contract for the first six satellites of the Sphere system

Roscosmos has signed a contract for the development and manufacture of the first stage of the orbital grouping as part of six spacecraft of the Skif medium-orbital broadband Internet access system, which is part of the Sphere federal project. The press service of the state corporation announced this on October 24, 2023. Read more here.

The first spacecraft of the Sphere program began to defend the orbiter-frequency resource of Russia

The first spacecraft of the Sphere program began to defend the orbiter-frequency resource of Russia. The press service of the state corporation Roscosmos announced this on January 24, 2023.

We are talking about the Skif-D spacecraft. Its flight tests will last until the end of November 2023. During the life of Skif-D, tests of communication and control technologies for the spacecraft in various modes will be carried out. It is stated that the characteristics of the device correspond to the design ones.

The results of Skif-D radiation measurements are being prepared for sending to the International Telecommunication Union. Thus, the orbital-frequency resource at this stage of the deployment of the Skif system is protected, - reported in Roskosmos on January 24, 2023.

In December 2022, Pavel Cherenkov, General Director of Satellite System Gonets JSC (controlled by the Sphere operator company), told TASS that in order to confirm the orbiter-frequency resource, the Skif-D demonstration apparatus should transmit a signal within 90 days in the declared frequency bands, and in the first three years at least 10% of the declared group should be deployed, the Gonets general director specified. There are 12 Internet satellites in the Russian application, therefore, to confirm the rights in orbit, you will need to have at least one more.

According to him, an application for the frequency range necessary for Skifa's work was submitted by one of the Russian companies with which Sphere entered into agreements to obtain the necessary rights.

Starlink and OneWeb have already come out with a proposal to coordinate frequencies, but today we have not accepted the offer to go through coordination, that is, in fact, we do not allow them to use their satellite systems on the territory of the Russian Federation, "Cherenkov explained.[2]

2022

The start of the creation of a satellite communication constellation for the Sphere project

The creation of a satellite communications constellation for the Sphere project has begun. The press service of Roscosmos announced this on December 7, 2022.

It is specified that the company "Information Satellite Systems" named after Academician M.F. Reshetnev (part of the State Corporation "Roscosmos") has begun to create a space complex for the satellite communication system "Express-RV," which is part of the federal project "Sphere." The complex will include four spacecraft of the same name in a highly elliptical orbit, designed to organize fixed and mobile communication services. They will be equipped with equipment for work in the C-, Ku- and L-bands of frequencies and have a 10-year guaranteed period of active existence.

The orbital grouping of the Express-RV system will provide communication services, including broadband Internet access, throughout Russia and the Arctic Ocean.

The launch of the first Express-RV spacecraft is planned in October 2025, the deployment of a full orbital group - in 2026.

The federal project "Sphere" includes five satellite communication constellations and five satellite remote sensing constellations. Lands

Within the framework of the Sphere project, it is planned to create more than 600 satellites. The first Skif-D vehicle was launched into orbit on October 22, 2022. According to Roscosmos, technologies for providing broadband Internet access services throughout the Russian Federation will be developed with the help of a new satellite.

According to the state corporation, by 2022 only 30% of the territory of Russia is covered with cellular communications and only new satellite communication systems will ensure the connectivity of the territory of the Russian Federation. Roscosmos added that in order to fully deploy satellite constellations and ensure global coverage of the entire surface of the Earth, as well as "create the most modern communication and monitoring system," it is necessary to multiply the budget financing of the Sphere project until 2030.^[3]

Roscosmos launched the first Russian Internet satellite into orbit

Roscosmos launched the first Russian Internet satellite into orbit. The state corporation announced this on October 23, 2022.

The Skif-D demonstrator satellite is designed... to develop new technical solutions for high-speed Internet access and protect the orbital-frequency resource, Roscosmos said in a statement.

Skif-D, the first apparatus of the Sphere multi-satellite group, and three Gonets-M communications satellites were launched on the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle from the Vostochny cosmodrome on the evening of October 22, 2022. The devices were delivered to their orbits by the Fregat upper stage.

If the products of the "Messenger" series are a replenishment of a long-functioning space communication system, then "Skif-D" deserves a separate mention.

This device is the first component of the Sphere global communication system. According to plans, it will consist of several hundred satellites of various purposes in low, medium, voscoelliptic and geostationary orbits.

The mass of the Skif-D satellite is 160 kg, power consumption is about 250 W, and the active life is three years. In 2022, 14 billion rubles were allocated for the project.

The multifunctional satellite system "Sphere," which will allow distributing high-speed Internet from space to Earth, may work in 2024. Roscosmos previously announced that in 2022 a Skifa flight prototype will be launched to provide broadband Internet access, and in 2023 - the Marathon apparatus for the Internet of Things.

The Sphere project is aimed at eliminating the so-called digital inequality, since providing Internet access through satellites will provide access to the Network in territories where it is impossible to lay fiber, for example, in high latitudes, taiga, tundra and permafrost zones.

In 2022, the current head of the state corporation, Iouri Borisov, called Sphere one of the key projects for Roscosmos.

The curator of the project, Sergei Prokhorov, said that Sphere would compete with the program of Starlink the American company Elona Musk SpaceX and in the the BritishOneWeb telecommunication service market.^[4]

The group is designed to access broadband internet, but it will also be able to provide high-speed data transmission both in the interests of the armed forces and special communications.

The fighting in Ukraine has clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of such systems. They are vital: already now space communications and a large constellation of Earth remote sensing satellites give a great advantage, which can be seen in the example of the use of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Starlink.

Roscosmos explained the increase in funding for the satellite project

In early October 2022, Roskosmos"" explained the increase in funding for the Sphere satellite project by tens of billions. rubles The reason is the transfer Ministry of Digital Development Russia from 2023 of a project to create a space complex "" with Express-RV four spacecraft in a highly elliptical orbit.

{{quote 'Thus, the Sphere project has been expanded with a new task to develop the Russian orbital grouping of communications and broadcasting for the provision of services throughout Russia, including the Arctic, and on the Northern Sea Route, "a representative of the state corporation explained to Vedomosti. }}

At the end of September 2022, the newspaper, citing an explanatory note to the draft law "On the federal budget for 2023 and for the planning period 2024 and 2025," reported that funding for the Sphere project would be increased. In particular, in 2022 it increased by 7 billion rubles, and will also grow by 10.7 billion rubles in 2023 and by another 11.6 billion rubles in 2024 compared to the figures laid down last year.

In total, in 2022, 14 billion rubles were allocated for the "Sphere," in 2023 - 17.7 billion rubles, in 2024 - 18.6 billion. In 2025, 8.5 billion rubles were reserved for the project.

By October 2022, the Sphere project includes 162 spacecraft. The first satellite of this group "Roscosmos" promised to put into orbit at the end of October 2022. The launch of the Marathon satellite is scheduled for 2023, and the launch of two Skif satellites in 2024. For 2025, the launch of the Berkut constellation devices and four Express-RV satellites was noted. Six Skif satellites are scheduled to be launched in 2027, four more such satellites are to be launched in 2028. All types of these satellites will be part of the Sphere satellite constellation^[5]

The budget for the satellite project "Sphere" has been halved to 95 billion rubles

On July 12, 2022, it became known that the Government of the Russian Federation approved only half of the requested budget for the Sphere project - 95 billion instead of 180 billion rubles. The amount of budget funding for the satellite grouping is stated in the presentation of the first deputy head of Roscosmos for the development of the orbital grouping and promising projects Yuri Urlich.

According to this presentation, referred to by TASS, the federal project "Sphere" was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on April 6, 2022. It follows from this document that 162 vehicles will be launched into orbit, although more than 500 satellites were originally planned.

If earlier we could buy many services, now we are switching to domestic services, - said Yuri Urlichich, speaking about the importance of the Sphere project (quoted by RIA Novosti). - Broadcasting, this is what we have been using for a long time and almost every day. Television will come to the Arctic and other remote areas. We have never had digital broadcasting in the country, now it will be. Various corporate broadcast services can be... and emergency alert.

According to Urlichich, "Sphere" will provide special communication - for the president, government and departments.

We do this so that all these technologies allow complex systems, robotic systems, unmanned vehicles to be and work quietly everywhere. And not like now, often, only in line of sight, - said Urlichich.

In June 2022, Roscosmos announced that the implementation of the Russian Sphere project could bring about 2.4 trillion rubles to gross domestic product (GDP) and create conditions for more than 33 thousand new jobs. The state corporation is confident that this "is a necessary condition for the creation and development of the digital economy of our country."^[6][7]

The creation of a multi-satellite group "Sphere" will cost Roskosmos 180 billion rubles

The creation of the Sphere multi-satellite group will cost Roscosmos 180 billion rubles. This was reported at the end of May 2022 by RIA Novosti with reference to the Russian Cosmos magazine.

The materials note that of the indicated amount, about 21 billion rubles were pledged until 2025. Director of the Department of Advanced Programs and the Sphere Project of the Roscosmos State Corporation Sergei Prokhorov confirmed the amount of funding for the program at 180 billion rubles and clarified that this includes federal budget funds and extrabudgetary investment sources.

According to Prokhorov, in the federal budget of the Russian Federation for 2022-2024. Another 7 billion rubles are reserved for the "Sphere" every year.

Further, we intend to systematically increase the volume of investments annually... Since the passport of the federal project was agreed with the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance and approved by the government of the Russian Federation, it can be assumed that the amount of funding that is laid down for the next 10 years will be provided, he said.

Prokhorov added that after the approval of the federal project "Sphere," contracting in 2022 will continue within its framework.

According to Alexander Kuzovnikov, Deputy General Designer for Space Systems Development, General Design and Control of Spacecraft JSC ISS named after Academician M.F. Reshetnev, the main task of the projects included in the Sphere project is to significantly increase the capacity of the Russian orbital group and ensure affordable broadband access throughout the country, including the northern regions.

In total, about 380 satellites will be launched into orbit. The system will include seven Express devices, four Express-RV 12 Skif satellites for broadband Internet access and 264 Marathon satellites for the Internet of Things. ^[8]

Roscosmos created the national operator of the satellite program "Sphere"

On April 13, 2022, the Roscosmos State Corporation announced the creation of the operator of the Federal Project for the Development of the Sphere Multifunctional Satellite System. It is organized on the basis of the Gonets Satellite System JSC (part of Roscosmos). The full name of the created satellite operator is "Sphere - Space Information Technologies" (Sphere LLC). Read more here.

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the creation of the satellite system "Sphere"

On April 7, 2022, it became known about the approval by the Government of the Russian Federation of the federal project of the Sphere multi-satellite group. This was announced by the director of the department of promising programs and the project "Sphere" of the state corporation "Roscosmos" Sergei Prokhorov. According to him, the amount of funding, which is laid down under the program until 2032, will be provided, since the project was agreed with the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance.

"We will continue contracting events already within the framework of the federal project" Sphere "in 2022," said Prokhorov (quote from the press service of Roscosmos leads TASS).

The project plans to use more than 600 small spacecraft. The system will solve various problems, including providing high-speed Internet access and optical Earth observation in real time. Earlier, Sergei Prokhorov said that the creation of the Russian multifunctional satellite system "Sphere" will require extrabudgetary investments in the amount of more than 350 billion rubles. Roscosmos also gave another estimate of the cost - 533.6 billion rubles.

In January 2022, Sergei Prokhorov said that within the framework of the Sphere project in the coming years, the emphasis will be on developing technologies and creating the first samples of spacecraft. The final decision on the number and composition of satellite constellations will be made on the basis of the results shown. The creation of a national multi-satellite grouping of communications and remote sensing of the Earth (DZZ) will continue, but the process will be phased and more variable, he added.

By April 2022, Roscosmos is creating a national operator of promising orbital groups Sphere in partnership with existing Russian operators - FSUE Cosmic Communications and Gazprom Space Systems^[9]

2021

Roscosmos included 5 satellite constellations for telecom in the Sphere program

Roscosmos has included five satellite constellations in the Sphere program to provide telecommunications services. The general director of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin announced this on October 25, 2021.

Russia also decided to form five orbital communication groups and five orbital observation groups, "he said during a speech at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress in Dubai.

According to the head of Roscosmos, the Sphere will include the following satellite communications groups:

• "Yamal";
• Express-RV;
• "Express";
• "Skif";
• "Marathon IoT."

On the basis of these complexes, broadband Internet access, telephony, the Internet of Things, etc. will be provided.

In addition, the Sphere includes five groups of Earth observation in various ranges:

• "Review";
• "Golden Eagle-O";
• "Golden Eagle-S";
• "Golden Eagle-VD";
• "Golden Eagle-X, L, P."

They will allow you to control the situation in various regions, including the Arctic. The launch of prototypes of these spacecraft is scheduled for 2022-2023.

That is, we begin to form an orbital grouping from next year, - concluded Dmitry Rogozin.

The developers believe that not only Russian cosmonautics, but also the entire economy, largely depends on the form in which the Sphere will be implemented. According to the authors of the program, it will allow the Russian Federation to reach the forefront in the world in the field of communications, navigation, meteorology, satellite Internet, broadcasting, remote sensing and new services related to positioning and data transmission, for example, using the Internet of Things, as well as ensure the demand for new launch vehicles in the domestic launch services market. The program will give domestic enterprises a large order for mass production of satellites, Rogozin said.^[10]

The beginning of the creation of the satellite system "Sphere"

On April 20, 2021, it became known that Russia began creating the Sphere satellite system. The head performers have begun work within the framework of the program, said Alexander Bloshenko, executive director of Roscosmos for promising programs and science.

In particular, there is a design of devices for creating new multi-satellite communication groups to provide services to the Internet of Things "Marathon" and broadband access "Skif"... Terms of reference have already been formed, priority work has been calculated and understood, - he said in a conversation with TASS.

According to Bloshenko, by April 20, 2021, procedures are underway to bring budget financing and conclude contracts. The agreements should be concluded within a couple of months, he added.

The first deputy head of Roscosmos for the development of the orbital group and promising projects, Yuri Urlichich, told reporters on April 20, 2021 that the state corporation expects to approve the Sphere program by the end of the first half of the year. He noted that budgetary and extrabudgetary investments in the program will be parity. This issue will also be approved at the government level.

Roscosmos recalled that within the framework of the project it is planned to provide broadband Internet and communication, including along the Northern Sea Route. In 2021, "radar vision devices should appear in Russia, which allow you to see both at night and through fog and cloud cover."

The Sphere program will include ten orbital groups: Yamal, Smotr, Express-RV, Express, Skif, Marathon, as well as Sphere-MKA, Sphere-SMKA, Sphere-X and Sphere-XLP. Thanks to this project, Roscosmos intends to provide space communications and broadband access (broadband access) to the Internet throughout the country until 2024.^[11]

Space Communications and Gazprom Space Systems plan to invest more than 140 billion rubles in the program

Space Communications and Gazprom Space Systems plan to invest more than 140 billion rubles in the program of the Sphere multifunctional satellite system. Financing is planned to be carried out as part of a public-private partnership. This became known on February 4, 2021.

The planned amount of extra-budgetary funding from the FSUE "Space Communications" within the framework of the "Sphere" program for the period from 2022 to 2030 is estimated at more than 40 billion rubles, - explained the deputy general director of the Russian company Yevgeny Buidinov.

Within the framework of cooperation, "Space Communications" contributes to the development of spacecraft communications and broadcasting of the Express series and highly elliptical satellites Express-RV.

According to Igor Kot, deputy general director for business development at Gazprom Space Systems, a total of 100 billion rubles are planned to be attracted. The company will create an assembly production of spacecraft in Shchelkovo, form the Smotr space system for remote sensing of the Earth and take part in the development of the Yamal satellite communication system.

As Octagon wrote, the state corporation Roskosmos"" plans to create a multifunctional satellite system "Sphere" for 1.5 trillion rubles. According to experts, it should become a replacement for Russian users American Starlink British OneWeb^[12]

2020

Roscosmos requested 1.5 trillion rubles to create a satellite system "Sphere"

Roskosmos"" requested 1.5 trillion rubles to create a satellite system "Sphere," which should be the Russian response to technology Starlink Elona Musk and British-Indian. OneWeb This amount was announced in early November 2020 by a member of the board Military-Industrial Commission Russia , Alexander Ivanov.

As noted by RIA Novosti, 1.5 trillion rubles is more than the size of the entire Federal Space Program of Russia from 2016 to 2025. The project to ensure communication throughout the planet is planned to be created mainly at the expense of the country's budget. Private investments will amount to 350 billion rubles. It is not specified for what period it will be necessary to master the funds.

The state armament program will soon be less than the requests of Roscosmos for their projects, says Alexander Ivanov. - We strongly support Roscosmos in its desire to return all funds cut through the Federal Space Program... According to the "Sphere" and the super-heavy rocket for the next year, even in the absence of approved programs, significant funds are laid.

According to the developers of the Sphere, subscriber equipment should not be heavy, complex and expensive. And a completely cool scanning homing "dish" with a complex control system, which monitors satellites of a low-orbit system flying overhead and provides high-speed communication channels, is completely useless, Roskosmos reported.

In October 2020, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin commented on the achievements of Ilona Mask in terms of the development of the Starlink satellite system. He praised the American "for the courage of engineering solutions," but at the same time stated that he did not understand everyone's delight.

Our ideology, which we laid down in the "Sphere," is stronger than those projects that are now being implemented and advertised, - Sergei Prokhorov, who holds the post of director of the department of advanced programs and the project "Sphere," told Russian Space[13]

Development of the project separately from GLONASS

At the end of July 2020, it became known that the Sphere satellite program, which is called the analogue of the StarlinkElon Musk system, will develop separately from GLONASS.

Sergei Prokhorov, Director of the Department of Advanced Programs and the Sphere Project, told ComNews that by decision of the Military-Industrial Commission and the Ministry of Defense, the implementation of the GLONASS system will be continued within the framework of an independent subprogram of the state program "Space Activities of Russia."

Yuri Urlichich, First Deputy General Director for the Development of the Orbital Group and Promising Projects of the Roscosmos Group of Companies, said that 10 orbital groups are planned to be launched within the Sphere.

We will move from the creation of piece spacecraft to their serial production. This will reduce the cost and production time, as well as improve quality. The program will implement more than 100 integrated functions for the end consumer. We will deal with the real satellite Internet of Things, which is in demand in almost all sectors of the economy, - he said at the XII International Conference Satellite Russia & CIS 2020.

According to Urlichich, the first demonstrator devices will appear in 2022-2023, by the end of July 2020, Roscosmos has devices for remote sensing of the Earth.

Yuri Urlichich also said that thanks to the implementation of the Sphere program, it will be possible to increase the coverage of the Earth with presidential, government and special communications from 69% to 93%, using the Express and Express-RV groups. In addition, broadband Internet access and fixed voice will be available on 100% of the Earth, including in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, and the throughput for the end consumer will increase to 100 Mbps.^[14] 

Preparation of the project for approval by the Government of the Russian Federation

On July 18, 2020, it became known that the Sphere project would become an analogue of the StarlinkElon Musk satellite system. The final program for the creation of the Sphere will be submitted for government approval in August, the press service of Roscosmos told RIA Novosti.

By July 18, 2020, the program was agreed with all interested executive authorities, including Ministry of Communications and. Ministry of Transport Russia The project is under review in and. Ministry of Finance Ministry of Economic Development

According to updated data, the grouping of the Russian Sphere system by 2030 should include 638 spacecraft, of which 334 are communications satellites, 249 are remote Earth survey vehicles, 55 are navigation satellites. Roscosmos calculated that within 10 years it would be necessary to launch 88 Soyuz-2.1b medium missiles, 36 Angara-1.2 light missiles and 24 Angara-A5 heavy missiles.

Yevgeny Nesterov, Deputy General Director for Strategic Development and Innovation of the Russian Space Systems Holding (RKS), noted that such a program, which provides for the deployment by 2025 of a constellation of 288 satellites with an orbit of 870 km, will require investments of 300 billion rubles.

The missiles themselves will not be manufactured at the expense of the budget included in the federal target program "Sphere." Who will pay for the production of missiles is not specified. The sphere will become a competitor to OneWeb and Starlink. At the same time, the Russian project of high-speed Internet will include not only communication satellites, but also devices for remote sensing of the Earth and navigation.

Earlier in 2020, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin accused Ilona Mask of cooperation with the Pentagon, suggesting that the Starlink satellite constellation has a dual purpose and can be used "for military purposes."^[15]

2019

The creation of the first satellites for the Sphere project will require 15 billion rubles

On September 26, 2019, it became known that the creation of the first satellites for the Sphere project, which will improve GLONASS, will require 15 billion rubles. This was reported by Interfax with reference to the draft federal budget for 2020 and the planning period 2021-2022, which was published by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on the portal regulation.gov.ru.

14.871 billion rubles will be spent on the creation of five Express-RV satellites. The funds are allocated until 2022.

Within the framework of the Sphere system, it is planned to combine the GLONASS satellite navigation system, Earth remote sensing systems, Express-RV and Gonets communication systems, as well as the Luch relay system, the Marathon global Internet of Things system and the Skif broadband Internet access system.

The "Ether" project was not mentioned in the program, said Yury Urlichich, deputy general director of Roscosmos. "Ether" must show its profitability. As soon as the project, which is declared as extrabudgetary, shows the funds raised from the budget, it will be included in the federal target program "Sphere," he said.

The state corporation Roscosmos reported that spacecraft of the Sphere system will be able to "communicate" with each other and with the Earth through laser communication. As part of the grouping of space objects, a laser communication system should be implemented that allows information to be transmitted digitally in a laser beam. It is expected that the system will provide communication coverage throughout Russia, as well as areas of the Arctic.

Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said earlier that the draft budget for 2020-2022. financing of the "Sphere" in the amount of 10 billion rubles. At the same time, he said that very serious extrabudgetary funding is provided for the program. The investors of the project have not yet been determined, but VEB has already refused to participate.^[16]

Russia and China will create a satellite constellation for the distribution of high-speed Internet

On September 17, 2019, it became known about a joint project between Russia and China to create a low-orbit satellite constellation for distributing high-speed Internet. Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov spoke about the development of a competitor to OneWeb on the sidelines of a meeting in St. Petersburg between the heads of government of the two countries Dmitry Medvedev and Li Keqiang. Read more here.

Roscosmos agreed on the creation of the "Sphere"

On August 26, 2019, it became known that the project to create the Russian orbital satellite constellation "Sphere" was approved by the Military-Industrial Commission.

The stage of the commission [Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation] Yuri Ivanovich Borisov, the Military-Industrial Commission, has been passed. We are waiting for the next stage, - TASS quotes the first deputy head of Roscosmos Yuri Urlichich.

The Spheres project will then undergo a legal review for interference with other Federal target programs.

According to Yuri Urlichich, by the end of August 2019, the issue of financing the project for 2020 is being considered.

The Sphere system will include more than 600 communications, navigation and remote sensing satellites. It provides for the further development of the GLONASS navigation system, communication and broadcasting systems, as well as remote sensing of the Earth.

The new unified system should include satellites of the Express series, including Express-RV satellites in highly elliptical orbits for the Arctic region, personal satellite communication systems, relay and remote sensing of the Earth, a promising medium-orbital satellite Internet system and low-orbital data transmission systems and the Internet of things.

When creating the Sphere system, supercomputer multiprocessor systems, digital geo-information technologies and self-learning neural networks will be used. Satellites for the "Sphere" are planned to be launched in clusters on a heavy launch vehicle "Angara-A5."

Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos Yuri Koptev told TASS that projects to create a super-heavy launch vehicle, the Sphere project and Russian lunar missions will be combined into one state program "Space Activities of Russia" for the period until 2030.^[17]

Roscosmos plans to create a legal entity to attract investments in the Sphere project

On May 28, 2019, it became known that Roscosmos plans to bring into a separate structure a project to create a global multifunctional infocommunication satellite system (GMISS), which will be part of the Sphere program.

Roscosmos will register a legal entity to attract investments in the GMISS project, without specifying exactly when it will be created.

At a meeting of the Digital Economy working group, the representative of the Ministry of Transport expressed concern "about the need to synchronize the costs of creating all communication systems within the framework of the national program." The representative of the Roscosmos structure named difficulties in financing and allocating frequencies among the potential risks for GMISS. The representative of MegaFon said that the design parameters of GMISS exceed the existing satellite constellations, but "significantly lag behind the existing terrestrial communication networks, and even more so from 5G networks."

GMISS is part of the Sphere project, which involves the deployment of an orbital constellation of more than 600 satellites in 2023-2028. In April 2019, Roscosmos reported that the system-forming projects of the Sphere would be satellite navigation system GLONASS Earth remote sensing systems, the Express-RV and Messenger RV satellite communication system, as well as the Luch relay system, the global system Internet of Things and Marathon BROADBAND ACCESS the Skif system.

At the same time, financing for the creation of GMISS is estimated at 299 billion rubles. from extrabudgetary sources, which makes it the most costly project of the Digital Economy.

In September 2018, the national development bank VEB decided to refuse to participate in the design and financing of GMISS. Industry experts said then that it would be difficult to attract commercial financing to the project and other government agencies should provide it.

According to Mikhail Kokorich, general director of Momentum startup, it will be difficult to attract Western investments in the creation of GMISS, rather, funding will come from countries that "traditionally cooperate with Russia, for example, on defense issues."

Foreign projects involving the deployment of satellite constellations for the global broadband access can attract investments from banking structures and investment funds, as well as in the Roscosmos stock market^[18]

Announcement of the launch date of the first satellites under the Sphere program

On April 24, 2019, it became known that the launch of spacecraft that will be included in the Sphere satellite system will take place in 2023, as announced by Yuri Urlichich, First Deputy General Director of Roscosmos State Corporation.

The next thing we will grow in the orbital grouping is the highly orbital space segment. It is assumed that six spacecraft will be deployed by 2025, in 2023 the first spacecraft will fly.

The Sphere program will include navigation, satellite communications and remote sensing of the Earth and is expected to qualitatively improve satellite communications services and increase navigation accuracy in our hemisphere by 25%.

The press service of Roscosmos said that the development of the concept of the Federal Target Program "Sphere," which will include satellites for communication, navigation and remote sensing of the Earth, has been completed.

The design of the appearance of the Express-RV satellites, which should become part of the Sphere constellation, has been completed, as stated by Mikhail Glinka, director of the sales department of operator and corporate solutions at FSUE Cosmic Communications (GPKS, developer of the Express-RV satellite system).

According to Glinka, the Express-RV communication system will have wide opportunities for commercial use, in particular, in the provision of communication and broadcasting services at mobile collective facilities. It is assumed that annually its services will be used by 1 million people at offshore facilities, 12 million people - during air transportation, 13 million people - on long-distance trains, and in intercity buses - 25 million people. In addition, up to 2.5 million drivers of passenger cars and up to 1 million truck drivers will be able to use the system every year. ^[19].

Plan to launch over 600 satellites under the Sphere project

By 2028, more than 600 satellites are planned to be launched into orbit within the framework of the Sphere project. This was announced by the head of Rossvyaz Oleg Dukhovnitsky, which became known on April 11, 2019.

Dukhovnitsky noted that the Russian civil orbital communications constellation includes 11 satellites, which provide more than 60% of broadcasting in the country. In particular, about 700 television and radio channels are broadcast through them. He also called satellite communications one of the priority types of communications in Russia for the coming decades.

"Sphere" is a revised version of the project of the global satellite communication system "Ether" presented by Roskosmos in May 2018. According to the initial plans, and it was supposed to enter 288 satellites in orbit with an altitude of 879 km, providing signal coverage of the entire surface of the planet. The cost of the project was estimated at 299 billion rubles until 2020, which was planned to be found from extrabudgetary sources.

Satellites will provide telephone communication and Internet access services, including for Internet of Things technologies, transport monitoring, unmanned aerial vehicles. The launch of the system was originally planned to be carried out by 2025, for which the RKS was supposed to unite in a consortium with RSC Energia and representatives of the telecom industry^[20]

Roscosmos will include GLONASS, Express-RV and satellite IoT/M2M in the Sphere program

On April 11, 2019, it became known that the Federal Target Program (FTP) for the development of space information technology "Sphere" will include almost all the Russian space projects for the period until 2030. "" Roskosmos plans to include in the project a system, " GLONASS Express-RV, "/and Earth satellite IoTM2M remote sensing systems.

Yuri Urlichich, First Deputy General Director for the Development of the Orbital Grouping and Promising Projects of the Roscosmos State Corporation, presented the conceptual foundations of the Sphere federal target program (FTP).

Roscosmos proposed the Sphere program to solve the problems of digitalizing the country's economy and achieving national development goals in accordance with the May decree of the President of the Russian Federation. From the report of Yuri Urlich it follows that the President of the Russian Federation supported the formation and implementation of the federal target program "Sphere."

Deputy Head of the Federal Communications Agency (Rossvyaz) Igor Chursin expressed the hope that in 2019 the federal target program "Sphere" will already be adopted. According to his preliminary estimates, it is designed for the period until 2030.

Director of the Department of Advanced Programs and the Sphere Project of the Roscosmos State Corporation Sergei Prokhorov said that the project office of the Sphere Federal Target Company has already been formed on the basis of FSUE TsNIImash, headed by General Director Sergei Koblov. According to him, the draft concept of the federal target program "Sphere" has been developed and submitted for consideration to the interested Federal Investment Fund. As of April 2019, the project office collects and consolidates the proposals of the Federal Investment Fund for subsequent inclusion in the draft concept of the federal target program "Sphere." The Sphere program will become the basis for the scientific, technical and innovative development of the rocket and space industry of the Russian Federation. It will include three components - communication, navigation and remote sensing of the Earth (DZZ).

The system-forming projects of the Sphere will be the GLONASS system, the Express and Express-RV satellite communication systems (highly elliptical orbital grouping), Yamal, data Marathon the IoT/M2M global transmission system (satellite), internet of things the Luch relay system, the personal satellite communication system "," the Skif Messenger mid-orbital system BROADBAND ACCESS , the Earth remote sensing system (in particular, the Obrazr remote sensing system, implemented Group of company Systematica).

In addition, the Sphere program provides for mutual linking of measures proposed within the framework of the FTP concept "Development of the orbital grouping of civil communications and broadcasting spacecraft, including satellites in highly elliptical orbits, to solve the problems of ensuring security, public administration and development of the Russian economy for 2017-2025," prepared by Rossvyaz.

As for the previously announced project "Ether" (launch of satellites into low orbit), he was not excluded from the "Sphere." According to Yuri Urlich, all projects that show their economic efficiency and technical feasibility will be included in the Sphere program, including Ether.

"Ether," like any other project, must show its economic profitability. As soon as he shows the attracted extrabudgetary component, we will include him in the "Sphere," - said Yuri Urlichich.

The budget for the "Sphere" has not yet been approved. Nevertheless, Yuri Urlichich mentioned that the program will be implemented with mixed public and private funding.

It is important to note that the Sphere program should help accelerate the technological development of the Russian Federation, introduce digital technologies and create an export-oriented sector in the basic sectors of the economy.

The Sphere program will be eco-oriented and will work not only in the Russian market, - said Yuri Urlichich. - The secret of sales in the foreign market is to combine with the strongest. We have already agreed to unite Federal Communications Agency with both FSUE Space connection"," as well as with PJSC "" represented Gazprom by JSC "" and Gazprom Space Systems all those who are ready to cooperate.[21]

2018

On June 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the Direct Line, announced the unique Russian space program Sphere, for which 600 satellites are planned to be launched in the coming years. The head of state noted that the "Sphere" will be able to replace cable communication, and in terms of quality and coverage of territories it will be no worse, but at the same time cheaper and more affordable.

When creating the Sphere system, advanced developments in the field of digital technologies will be used, including supercomputer multiprocessor systems, digital geo-information technologies and self-learning neural networks (the ability of neural networks to self-study is one example of artificial intelligence - Approx. TASS)^[22]

Roskosmos develops global satellite constellations. Currently, the navigation system is functioning and developing, GLONASS which is actively used to solve navigation problems. The next step is to create a global constellation of Sphere satellites that will provide mobile communications and real-time optical surveillance anywhere on Earth. To effectively solve these problems, a larger number of small satellites in low orbits must be used.

It is important that in order to create the Sphere system, a technology for the mass production of small satellites based on the principles of mass production, which reduce unit costs, will be introduced. Multi-satellite technology will improve the reliability of the Sphere system as a whole.

The satellites are planned to be launched in clusters on the Angara-5 heavy rocket, which has already been developed. The launch complex at the Plesetsk cosmodrome has already been built for the Angara-5 launch vehicle, and the first launch has successfully passed. This year, the construction of the second launch complex of the Angara-5 heavy rocket at the Vostochny cosmodrome begins. The Angara-5 rocket is replacing the Proton-M heavy rocket and will provide Russia with guaranteed access to space from Russian territory of any currently existing payloads to different orbits, in the interests of both public and private customers.

The first launch complex for the Angara- A5 launch vehicles was built at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, the launch from it was successfully completed on December 23, 2014. The second start under the heavy "Angara," as previously reported in Roscosmos, should begin to build on Vostochny in June 2018.

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