Dawn (space satellites)

2024

Creation of inter-satellite laser communication technology

The Russian aerospace company Bureau 1440 has successfully completed the development and testing of commercial inter-satellite laser communication technology, which was announced at the end of July 2024. This technology, tested as part of the creation of a high-speed Internet service, is ready to scale to build a target satellite constellation.

According to TASS, during the Rassvet-2 mission test program, successful data transmission was carried out between spacecraft in low orbit at a distance of over 1,000 km. The spacecraft of this mission were launched into orbit in May 2024.

source = Bureau Telegram Channel 1440

The main objective of the Rassvet-2 mission was to confirm the target technical parameters of laser communication terminals, develop the guidance system and transmit information between satellites via an optical communication channel. The entire test program was completed successfully: spacecraft sequentially established communication with each other to transmit data at distances from 30 to 1005 km. The data transfer rate has reached 10 Gbps.

Bureau 1440 emphasized that laser inter-satellite communication is a key technology for the company's targeted low-orbit satellite constellation. Data transfer from one spacecraft to another will provide global satellite coverage, including in hard-to-reach areas.

After the completion of experiments with other instruments of the spacecraft of the Rassvet-2 mission, technologies will be transferred for the preparation and launch of serial production of spacecraft.

Minister of Digital Development RFMaksut Shadayev announced plans to form and launch the first constellation of space communication satellites for use in a highly elliptical orbit of the Internet network in 2026.

By 2030, it is planned to complete the first stage of the creation of a Russian large constellation of satellites, which will be used in low orbits. As part of this stage, it is planned to launch about 700 vehicles into orbit.^[1]

Launch of satellites to be used in 5G networks

Russia has successfully launched satellites that will be used in 5G networks. This project is being implemented by the Bureau 1440 company, which its press service announced on May 20, 2024.

As stated in the "Bureau 1440," we are talking about the first case for the Russian space industry when the devices use the 5G NTN standard to communicate with subscribers. They were launched as part of the Dawn-2 research mission.

source = Bureau 1440

The satellites are said to have been developed in record time for the space industry - in less than 14 months. According to the developers, the satellites of the Rassvet-2 mission are twice as large in weight and size, since more new equipment has been installed. Thanks to this, it was possible to increase the speed and quality of communication compared to the satellites of the Rassvet-1 mission, which launched at the end of June 2023 and was recognized as completely successful.

The "Bureau 1440" clarified that when passing the first mission, the speed was 48 Mbps, the delay was 42 ms. With such indicators, you can already make a video call in high quality for several people at once or watch TV in 4K resolution.

Within the framework of the Dawn-2 mission, within a few months the Bureau 1440 team will conduct orbital experiments, flight qualifications of technologies and equipment required to create a Russian broadband satellite service with global coverage. The company wants to launch fast satellite Internet in 2027.

{{quote 'I think that the project on which the Bureau 1440 is working is of great importance for the development of our digital infrastructure, - comments the head of the Ministry of Digital Science Maksut Shadayev. - For the Ministry, creating its own low-orbit satellite constellation to ensure fast and cheap Internet access is one of the key initiatives. }}

2023

Commissioning of Russian low-orbit satellite engines

The propulsion systems of the Rassvet-1 spacecraft have been successfully put into operation. This was announced on September 26, 2023 by the Bureau 1440.

In early July, three domestic low-orbit communication satellites developed by Bureau 1440 (part of ICS Holding) were launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome. The technology demonstration was successfully held in August 2023.

Satellites in target orbits

The first mission of Bureau 1440 became a platform for working out key software and architectural solutions that allow maneuvering satellites in automatic mode as part of a constellation. This is the new most difficult task of modern cosmonautics, the message says.

"Bureau 1440" also shared the technical details of the orbit adjustment system. By mid-July, the distance between the first (R1D2) and middle (R1D1) apparatus was about 350 km, and the distance between the middle and closing (R1D3) was about 180 km. The bureau adjusted orbits by turning on the propulsion system. As a result, the distances between pairs of neighboring devices are 1300±10 km.

Until mid-September, we changed the mutual position of the three vehicles without fuel costs, changing the cross-sectional area (midsection) by controlling the orientation of each spacecraft. The resistance of the atmosphere (noticeable in low orbits - ed.) Affects devices with different midship areas in different ways, thanks to which it is possible to control the rate of descent of the orbit. The exact calculation of such control allows you to accelerate or slow down the "spill" of each pair of devices. Thus, the growth of the distance between the middle and closing devices of the Rassvet-1 mission was accelerated 2.5 times, the report said.

The first video call in Russia through domestic satellites

On August 17, 2023, the first video communication session was held in Russia using domestic low-orbit Rassvet spacecraft with territory without coverage of cellular networks. The flight control center "Bureau 1440" in Moscow, using a video call, contacted specialists located on Mount Fisht in the Republic of Adygea, the territory of which is not served by traditional communication services.

According to the press service of the Cabinet, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko visited the Bureau 1440 scientific center and took part in the first video communication session in Russia through Russian satellites. He discussed the elimination of digital inequality in the region with the Minister of Digital Development, Information and Telecommunication Technologies of the Republic of Adygea Zaurbek Shu, and also talked with the director of the Caucasian State Natural Biosphere Reserve named after H.G. Saposhnikov Sergey Shevelev.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko visited the scientific center "Bureau 1440" and took part in the first video communication session in Russia using domestic low-orbit spacecraft with a territory without covering cellular networks

According to Chernyshenko, the government, as part of a strategy for the development of the communications industry, will support the launch by 2027 of a promising network of low-orbit spacecraft with unique laser inter-satellite communication technology.

The elimination of digital inequality is a priority task of the Government. Thanks to such domestic developments, by 2030 the entire territory of Russia, including the Arctic and the Far East, should be equipped with modern sources of communication. This will allow us to develop hard-to-reach territories, taking the economy of the subjects to a new level, "said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the domestic satellite constellation is a direct analogue of Starlink. Thus, it is expected that it will be able to cover other countries of the world for the development of hard-to-reach areas.

It is planned to create and launch into orbit more than 900 low-orbit domestic satellites by 2035. And since 2025, Russia intends to launch 10-12 rockets a year into orbit. About 15 satellites can be sent in each.^[2]

Putting vehicles into orbit

On June 27, 2023, Roscosmos ensured the launch into orbit of the three first low-orbit satellites Rassvet-1, which were created by Bureau 1440 (the company's former name is Megafon 1440). The devices were launched on the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle along with other Roscosmos spacecraft.

In the interests of the Bureau 1440 company, three communication spacecraft have been launched within the framework of the Dawn-1 mission to conduct orbital experiments, validate the technologies of the target space system and obtain flight qualifications for the developed satellite components, the state corporation said in a statement.

Roscosmos ensured the launch into orbit of the first three low-orbit satellites "Rassvet-1"

After separation from the upper stage, the devices of the first mission regularly performed the flight cyclogram and were taken over by the Bureau 1440 MCC. The next launch is planned in the coming months, the press service of Bureau 1440 said in early July 2023.

As added to the company, the system will provide a global service with a focus on mass consumers in various industries. Over the next months, the company's engineers will conduct experiments on broadband data transmission in various scenarios, within the framework of which the use of radio frequency bands allocated by the GKRCH solution in November 2021 has begun, as well as tests on the phasing of spacecraft in orbit to develop orbital retention algorithms. Upon completion of all planned experiments, the spacecraft will be de-orbited.

In February 2023, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reported that Bureau 1440 had submitted three applications for Rassvet, Rassvet-1 and Rassvet-2 satellite constellations. According to ITU, the Rassvet project involves one circular orbit 600 km high and with an inclination of 98 degrees.^[3]

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