Messenger "Sovereign Eye" Global Satellite Communication System

The Gonets satellite communication system is designed for the global exchange of various types of information with rocket and space technology, as well as the organization of relay channels for various purposes.

GLONASS and "Messenger" have parallel fates. Both satellite projects were conceived by the military in the 1980s. And they were first implemented exclusively for the purposes of the military: GLONASS - to support precision weapons, "Messenger" - as a new communication system for reconnaissance. The idea of ​ ​ the "Messenger" was that a low-orbit (orbit height - 1.4 thousand km) constellation of communication satellites would make ground transmitters more compact, it would be possible to transmit information from them from anywhere in the Earth.

By order of the GRU in the early 1980s, the Reshetnev NGO for Applied Mechanics developed the Strela-3 special communications spacecraft (Weight - 225 kg, orbiting life - up to five years).

The satellite, flying over the place where the transmitter is located, direction-finding it, records information, and passing over Russia, drops it into the center. In 1991, the Messenger was adopted (GLONASS, by the way, the military was commissioned in 1993). In the early 1990s, 12 Arrows were launched into orbit per year. Funding soon ended, and in 1995 not a single Arrow was launched into orbit. Then the conversion of the system began: the proceeds from commercial services were expected to be used to support the military intelligence segment. Adapted for civilian use, satellite devices were called the "Messenger," and the satellite communication system operating to this day is also called.

Applications

In 2013, the following areas of application of the system were declared:

• creation of dedicated departmental, corporate, banking, medical, administrative networks;
• monitoring the condition and location of mobile vehicles;
• environmental and industrial monitoring, collection of scientific information (geodetic, hydrological, from seismic sensors, etc.);
• communication in remote regions with undeveloped infrastructure (regions of the Far North, Siberia and the Far East);
• communication in emergency situations.

When subscribers are located in the radio visibility area of the satellite, information transmission is provided without delay.

If subscribers are more than 5 thousand km away from each other, the information transmitted by the sender is stored by the satellite and relayed to the recipient when flying in its region, while the delivery time of the message does not exceed several hours.

If it is necessary to immediately deliver the message to a remote area of ​ ​ the globe from the sender, it can be immediately relayed to the regional center after receiving it on the satellite. The message can then be transmitted to the recipient via other satellites and regional centers of the Gonets system or via other communication channels.

System features

For 2013:

• the system is built on the basis of an orbital constellation of 45 spacecraft (5 planes of 9 satellites) in low circular orbits;
• information transfer can be carried out according to two principles: intraregional and interregional; in intra-regional communication (in an area with a diameter of about 5000 km), information is transmitted directly through a satellite on a scale close to real;
• user terminals of the communication system are small-sized radio modems providing data transmission at a speed of up to 9600 bps.

As of the fourth quarter of 2014, the grouping consists of 10 spacecraft. At the beginning of 2015, the launch of three more Gonets-M satellites was planned.

Project history

2022

Roscosmos has developed a new generation satellite system for tracking ships using Gonets satellites

In Roskosmos"" developed a new generation satellite system for tracking ships using the Gonets satellites. This was reported in the state corporation in October 2022.

The new signal receivers installed on the Gonets-M1 and Resurs-PM low-orbit satellites will significantly increase. the effectiveness of global real-time vessel surveillance. The equipment will help increase the frequency of updating the map of the movement of ships to once an hour will also increase the volume of transferred information and other data necessary to ensure the safety of navigation. Satellite data will complement the information of a network of onshore monitoring stations that do not cover areas of open water space, and thus expand the tracking area of ​ ​ ships. Received data from satellites are relayed to Earth in real time.

Roscosmos has developed a new generation satellite system for tracking ships using Gonets satellites

The upgraded Gonets-M1 satellites are in orbit with an altitude of 1.5 thousand km, which provides coverage of a large area. The system is optimized for monitoring ships above 60 ° north latitude - that is, it is well suited for observing traffic in Russian waters. The designed equipment is based on domestic electronic components according to the concept of an integrated on-board information system (IBIS). This organization of technical processes makes it possible to modernize it for different types of satellites, as well as reduce costs and speed up the production process.

The equipment on the Gonets-M1 satellites is designed for continuous operation for ten years. The Resurs-PM devices will provide data on the position of ships for five years with an hourly update.^[1]

Delivery of domestic components from Roselectronics

The Roselectronics holding of the Rostec State Corporation announced on April 22, 2022 that it was ready to supply a domestic element base for subscriber terminals of the Gonets low-orbit satellite system. This became one of the main issues of discussion during the visit of representatives of the management of Satellite System Gonets JSC (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) to the Omsk Research Institute of Instrumentation (ONIIP, part of the Roselectronics holding).

ONIIP leaders noted great progress in the development of the Gonets satellite system, including an increase in the orbital grouping, the opening of other regional stations, the emergence of digital services in the form of "box solutions" for consumers in various industries.

Within the framework of cooperation, ONIIP announced its readiness to carry out a full range of work on the development and creation of subscriber terminals and antenna-feeder devices for both the current and promising Gonets equipment line. At the same time, the company confirmed the possibility of joint participation in the implementation of the Sphere project.

It is extremely important for us as a satellite operator to be confident in the suppliers of subscriber equipment, since this is an important part of both the satellite network and the client service. In this regard, cooperation with the Omsk Research Institute of Instrumentation will help us build a supply chain in conditions not just import substitution, but one might say - import interruption. The use of an exclusively domestic element base in promising satellite devices will provide reliable technological sovereignty due to complete independence from foreign supplies of electronic components. And, of course, this will serve the aggregation of forces and means for the development of domestic industry, which is now extremely important, noted Pavel Cherenkov, General Director of Satellite System Gonets JSC.

As a pilot project, representatives of organizations agreed to carry out import substitution of the hull of the Gonets ship station, which has been actively used for several years on domestic fishing vessels as a satellite monitoring tool.

The use of domestic components is fundamentally important in such critical industries as rocket and space. The ECB and equipment samples developed by our specialists have all the necessary technical characteristics that make it possible to ensure stable operation of the equipment in various operating conditions, said the general director of the Omsk Research Institute of Instrument Engineering Vladimir Berezovsky.

2019

Communications satellites "Gonets" entered orbit

At the end of December 2019, a light-class launch vehicle Rokot"" with a block of communication spacecraft "" and a Messenger-M military satellite was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region.

The launch of the launch vehicle took place on Friday, December 27, at 02:11 Moscow time by the combat crew of the Space Forces. AEROSPACE FORCES Russia Six minutes later, the head of the Rokot separated from the second stage of the launch vehicle.

From the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region launched a launch vehicle of the light class "Rokot" with a block of communication spacecraft "Gonets-M" and a military satellite

This was reported in the Ministry of Defense. They also noted that the launch of the Rokot rocket and the launch of spacecraft into orbit took place as usual. Control over the launch and flight of Rokot was carried out by ground means, added to the Ministry of Defense.

The launch of satellites into calculated orbits by the Briz-KM upper stage took several hours. The Gonets satellites were launched into low orbit, and the mission staff began to carry out planned work to check the onboard system.

Updating the low-orbit satellite constellation will have a positive effect on the reliability of the user characteristics of the system, will reduce the waiting time for communication sessions by subscribers.

In 2020, Gonets will launch three more similar communication satellites into orbit, they are designed for remote monitoring of ships, ground transport, special equipment, transmission of coordinate data received from subscribers via GLONASS and for communication with remote regions.

According to RIA Novosti, this was the 25th and last of the Russian space launches scheduled for 2019, all of them were completed successfully. A total of 13 launches were made from the Baikonur cosmodrome, eight from Plesetsk, one from Vostochny and three from Kuru. This allowed Russia to take the third place in the world in the number of space rocket launches, skipping forward China with 33 launches (31 successful) and the United States with 27 launches. Two more launches in China are expected before the end of 2019.^[2]

Messenger 2 - Project "Sovereign Eye"

On June 4, 2019, it became known that thanks to the Sovereign's Eye project, the Russian president will be able to see the situation in the regions in real time and lead the country. This was stated by the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin. As he clarified, the president will be able to thus check whether the reports of officials correspond to the real situation in the country.

The president will have full access to this system, I think that when contacting the regional authorities, this data can be used. What really happens with construction sites, facilities, people, crops, roads and much, much more,

Dmitry Rogozin also announced the creation of the Gonets-2 satellite system to monitor the state of ground infrastructure facilities.

You know the satellites of the "Gonets" system, before they worked as paging in areas of no normal communication, and now we are making new satellites "Gonets," it will be the Internet of Things. This is a system that will be able to quickly transmit information coming from ground sensors, - said the head of the department.

According to him, the project provides for the installation of sensors at ground infrastructure facilities, including critical ones - dams, bridges, nuclear power plants. They will transmit signals to satellites in the event of deviations from the norm. As the head of Roscosmos explained, the system will not depend on people and ground infrastructure, including fiber-optic networks, and will be able to see any change in the normal status of objects.

After receiving signals from the sensors, the Sovereign Eye remote sensing system will be turned on^[3]

Announcement of the project "Sovereign Eye"

On January 18, 2019, Dmitry Rogozin announced the Sovereign Eye project. He clarified that the system will be able to use the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the fight against fires or agriculture to monitor arable land.

The head of Roscosmos said that with the help of the Sovereign's Eye project, it will be possible to control the construction of facilities, even outside the country.

Moreover, we can take pictures not only at a right angle, but also at a different angle, thereby seeing, for example, the depth of the pit, the depth of the mine or some other changes in the technogenic appearance of the infrastructure,

2017: Frequency Allocation Plan for 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz Bands

On February 20, 2017, it became known about the project to allocate the 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz frequency range to the Gonets Satellite System.

According to media reports, the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (GKRCH) may decide on the likely allocation of frequencies in the 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz bands of the Gonets Satellite System.

The range of 1980-2000 MHz (the upper part of the 1.9 GHz band) was not easy to divide: since 2012, the Antares company of entrepreneur Yevgeny Roitman has entered the struggle for them. The company owns frequencies at the bottom of the band (1900-1920 MHz) for use by fourth-generation LTE (4G) cellular technologies, and by combining two bands, Antares could increase the capacity of its^[4] network^[4]

During the period when Antares claimed frequencies, the SCRF received three applications for the allocation of these frequencies for mobile satellite communications. They were submitted by ISS named after M.F. Reshetneva and the companies "Transit-Telecom" and "Rusproekt" (the latter is allegedly affiliated with "Antares").

At the beginning of 2016, the SCRC planned to satisfy the applications of all three companies, but did not make a decision - in parallel, a project for creating confidential mobile satellite communications appeared. The question of this was considered by the SCRC at the end of 2015 behind closed doors and on February 20, 2017, the decision of the commission was not known.

At the end of 2016, one of the companies, Fitakom (successor to Transit-Telecom), sent repeated requests for frequency allocation. GKRCH refused to allocate frequencies to the company. The company filed a second application, but the materials for the upcoming meeting said that Fitakom was again refused.

According to the established procedure for making a decision by the State Committee for Radio Frequency Control on frequency allocation, the corresponding application should receive three positive approvals: from Roskomnadzor, the Ministry of Defense and the Federal Security Service (FSO). The information sheets for the meetings of the State Committee for Radio Broadcasting, held in 2014-2015, say that all three departments were "for" allocating frequencies to Transit-Telecom, while Roskomnadzor referred to the need to obtain the results of additional research.

Since 2016, Roskomnadzor began to object to the allocation of frequencies "Transit-Telecom "/" Fitak." From the information sheet for the upcoming meeting of the SCRC it follows that of the three main departments, only Roskomnadzor is still against frequency allocation. The agency refers to the position of Roscosmos.

Mikhail Khailov, deputy general director of the Roscosmos state corporation, in his letter to the State Committee for Radio Broadcasting, pointed out the inexpediency of allocating frequencies for Fitakom, since the conditions for electromagnetic compatibility with the confidential satellite communication system will not be met - the letter states that earlier these frequencies were allocated to the confidential satellite communication system by another decision of the State Committee for Radio Broadcasting.

The Gonets satellite system began to claim frequencies in the 1980-2010 MHz range at the end of 2016. At the GKRCH meeting in October 2016, the Gonets system received frequencies in various bands (more than 10 GHz), but the consideration of the application was postponed.

The materials for the meeting of the State Committee for Radio Broadcasting in March 2017 said: "Messenger" will receive these frequencies with consent to the development of conditions for joint use with third-generation cellular networks of the UMTS (3G) standard and government electronic means under the jurisdiction of the FSO.

Summarizing this, the publication reported: the plans of the State Radio Broadcasting Company are to refuse Fitakom to allocate frequencies in the 1980-2010 MHz band for mobile satellite communications, since previously these frequencies were allocated for the confidential satellite communication system. But, the "Satellite system" Gonets, "whose application was submitted several years later, will receive these frequencies, provided that the frequencies are shared with government communication networks.

Roscosmos and the Gonets Satellite System declined to comment on what was happening.

2016

GLONASS and "Messenger" will follow the fishermen

Two satellite systems, GLONASS and Gonets, will be used to track the location of the vessels of the Russian fishing fleet. This is stated in the order of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, published on the official portal of legal information^[5]).

​Sputnikovuyu "Messenger" system is being tested in the Far North

The Gonets satellite tracking and communication system is being tested in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The next stage of inspections took place on deer. A special collar was installed on the neck of the animals, which tracked their location. After all the tests, such collars will be used for remote grazing of animals, which will help to avoid conflicts between reindeer herders^[6].

Satellite system "Gonets" is tested in the Far North

Since animals graze freely, sometimes they enter the territory of other people's pastures, and then the "lost" deer became the subject of disputes between the owner and the owner of the land.

The Far North is chosen for the test because tracking systems based on the Messenger are in great demand here. For example, there are needs to determine the location of tourists, fishermen and hunters, especially when they make long transitions, and the distance to the nearest settlements exceeds several tens of kilometers. At any time, travelers can send a distress signal.

The tracking function is also useful for owners of snowmobile vehicles, because in winter, moving along rivers, they are guided only by directions.

Representatives of the developers noted that only in this region, representatives of business and city administrations are showing interest in introducing technologies for tracking systems based on "Messenger."

2014

Integration of ERA-GLONASS and Gonets systems will be completed in 2015

By the end of 2015, the integration state of the emergency response system "" and the ERA-GLONASS Russian satellite communication system "Gonets" will be completed.

terminals ERA-GLONASS and Gonets are planned to be used on vehicles that are operated mainly where there is no continuous coverage of mobile communications, for example, in sparsely populated or hard-to-reach regions," comments Ionin Andrey, chief analyst at the GLONASS Non-Profit Partnership . - This can also include all transport used in logging, in oil or gas fields. Or when there are special - as high as possible, requirements for the reliability of emergency call delivery, for example, for cars carrying dangerous goods. This integrated ERA-GLONASS/Messenger device can appeal to fishermen and tourists. Preliminary work on the integration of equipment has already been carried out, and in 2015 we plan to move to full-scale integration of systems and the creation of consumer equipment. "

The ERA GLONASS state emergency response system is designed to improve transport safety. It will reduce the time before the start of assistance in accidents by up to 30%, which will save more than 4 thousand people annually. The system will be put into commercial operation in 2015.

2013: Gonets Subscriber Terminal

The multifunctional personal satellite communication system (MSPSS) "Gonets" is being developed within the framework of the federal space program of Russia with the direct participation of the Russian Aerospace Agency.

Developers and manufacturers of the main elements of MSPSS "Messenger":

• NPO Applied Mechanics named after Academician M.F. Reshetnev (Zheleznogorsk),
• Research Institute of Precision Instruments (Moscow) and
• OJSC Izhevsk Radio Plant.

The purpose of the Gonets system is to transmit digital information in packet mode and provide dispatching radiotelephone communication.

The subscriber terminal consists of a radio modem and a personal IBM-compatible computer. Terminals of the Gonets system are equipped with small non-directional antennas that allow them to be installed on vehicles and communicate in motion.

Omnidirectional Antenna, 2013

Modem R-AT4, 2013

Advantages

• 2 versions of the design.
• Ease of use.
• Deployment time is less than 10 minutes.
• Communication with a satellite without the participation of an operator.
• Omnidirectional antenna.
• Determination of coordinates (accuracy 100 m).
• Wide range of operating temperatures (-25... + 55 ° С).
• Power supply 220 V or 12 V.
• Small weight and dimensions.

Subscriber terminal of the Gonets-D1 low-orbit space communication system AT-SO-4

Subscriber terminal AT-SO-4 is a complete set of equipment for automatic information exchange with satellites of the low-orbit space communication system "Gonets."

Structure

• Small-size radio modem R-AT4 GPS with or without location device ().
• Non-directional antenna that provides diskless and non-directional communication.
• Power supply.

With AT-SO-4, users are provided with a number of telecommunications services focused on the transmission of small messages.

2010: Proposal to upgrade the system to 48 satellites

As told "Marker.ru" in the company "Satellite System" Gonets, "in August 2010 there are six satellites of the system in orbit, in September it was planned to launch two more devices. The segments of the group are not divided into civilian and military - the same devices are used for both civilian and commercial purposes. True, the service offered by "Messenger" is somewhat specific. It is possible to transmit one-packet messages up to 256 characters with delivery to other parts of the world with a typical delay of several tens of minutes. It is possible to access the Internet - communication is carried out using the WAP protocol at a speed of 2.7 Kbps, the session will last until your terminal "sees" the satellite.

Upgrading such a system to the level of the Iridium satellite communication system means, in fact, building a communication system again. This is the scenario proposed in 2010 in the "Satellite System" Messenger '. " Namely: to increase the satellite fleet to 48 devices, eight in six planes each, which will provide global coverage and functionality at the highest possible technological level at this time. We are talking about high-speed Internet access, telephone communication, coordinate determination service, monitoring of remote objects, etc. The Gonets company did not specify the project estimate, saying that it had not yet been finalized.

In terms of technical parameters, the system they proposed is close to the Iridium global network (in particular, the presence of communication channels between the satellites themselves, which is a unique design feature of Iridium).

The questions are mainly caused by the technical solutions proposed by the authors, while the idea of ​ ​ creating a near-Earth information space was generally supported Roskosmos by and. Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media However, experts from Roscosmos doubt that the state will undertake in the foreseeable future to finance the creation of a record satellite fleet for the country: after the completion of work GLONASS on the next priority will be the creation of a multi-purpose satellite system "Arctic," designed to support Russian ambitions for the development of the Arctic Ocean.

"We are going to create a global information environment in ground, air and outer space," Prime TASS quotes the deputy head of Roscosmos Anatoly Shilov in 2010. "The project is to develop a new generation radio channel, as well as create a new satellite system for conducting space Internet where fiber will never come." The very idea of ​ ​ creating such a system is also approved by the Ministry of Communications, but the technical solutions laid down in the project in the ministry are called raw, requiring further refinement and assessment

Be that as it may, but the project called "Providing high-speed access to information networks using satellite communication systems" is present in the list of 24 projects for the modernization of the economy, the justification of which was sent by the relevant departments in mid-July 2010 by the Ministry of Economic Development. The company "Satellite System" Gonets "hopes that their project can be implemented by adopting a separate federal target program - just like the GLONASS project was reanimated. At the same time, industry experts believed that the chances of getting funding from Cosmonet in the foreseeable future were small.

"GLONASS financing began when the economic prospects for Russia's creation of a global navigation system became clear at the level of state leadership," said an interlocutor in Roscosmos. - In the case of "Messenger" such prospects are not obvious. It is not clear who will use this system and whether it is possible to talk about the prospects for its payback. Moreover, the project is extremely difficult technically and probably very costly. After all, we are talking about a constellation of satellites twice as large as GLONASS, as well as the creation of ground systems. I do not think that the Russian budget will pull such expenses, especially since a fundamental decision has been made to create a multipurpose satellite system "Arctic" worth about 70 billion rubles. "

Experience in creating satellite systems similar in parameters shows that the estimate of such projects is in the range of $4-6 billion. Not a single operator of satellite communication systems has yet been able to recoup such costs: both Iridium and Globalstar were awaiting bankruptcy shortly after launch.

Notes