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The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, commonly known as Intersputnik, is an international
Agreement on the legal capacity, privileges and immunities
Berlin, 20 September 1976
{{Authority control Communications satellites Science and technology in the Soviet Union Space program of the Soviet Union Soviet and Russian space institutions Aerospace companies of the Soviet Union Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Eastern Bloc East Germany–Soviet Union relations Poland–Soviet Union relations Hungary–Soviet Union relations Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations Cuba–Soviet Union relations Romania–Soviet Union relations Soviet Union–Syria relations India–Soviet Union relations 1971 establishments in the Soviet Union Bulgaria–Soviet Union relations Communications in the Soviet Union Communications satellites of Russia
satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
communications services organization founded on 15 November 1971, in Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
by the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
along with a group of seven formerly socialist states (Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
) and Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
.
The objective was and continues to be the development and common use of communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...
s. It was created as the Eastern Bloc's response to the Western Intelsat
Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...
organization. As of 2024, the organization has 25 member states. Ukraine is in the process of leaving the organization, while Czechia announced its intention to leave in February 2025, and Poland announced on 13 March 2025 that it will leave effective 12 August 2025.
Intersputnik nowadays is a commercially aligned organization. It operates 12 satellites in orbit and 41 transponders
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...
. In June 1997 Intersputnik created the Lockheed Martin Intersputnik (LMI) joint venture together with Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
, which built and operated the satellites of the same name. In September 2006, Lockheed Martin Intersputnik was acquired by Asia Broadcast Satellite
ABS is a global satellite operator and has offices in United Arab Emirates, Asia and United States. Operating 5 Communications satellite, communication satellites, the satellite fleet currently covers 93% of the world's population including the ...
(ABS).
History
Initially, the Intersputnik system was created on the basis of the Soviet Orbit-2 satellite broadcasting network and was designed to serve the countries participating in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, often abbreviated as Comecon ( ) or CMEA, was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of states, Easter ...
). The main system and technical developments were carried out by NIIR, radio receiving equipment was produced at the Moscow Radio Engineering Plant, antenna-feeder devices at the Podolsk Electromechanical Plant, radio transmitting and channel-forming equipment was manufactured by the Krasnoyarsk TV Plant.
In the initial version, Intersputnik used highly elliptical satellites of the Molniya-3 type, and in 1978 it began using geostationary satellites of the Gorizont
Gorizont (, ), GRAU index 11F662, was a series of 35 Russian, previously Soviet, geosynchronous communications satellites launched between 1978 and 2000. The program was started in order to develop a satellite system to relay coverage of the 1 ...
type. Receiving complexes "Orbita-2" with transmitters "Gradient-K" and channel-forming equipment RS-1, RS-2 operated at the earth stations. In the process of modernization, the transmitters were replaced by more modern Helikon type with a power of 3 kW and new channel-forming equipment “Gradient-N” began to be used. Subsequently, the Research Institute for Telecommunication (TKI) in Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
took part in the development of the equipment for Intersputnik, and factories in Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
were connected to production.
Member states
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (until 12 August 2025) * * * * * * * *
See also
*Ground station
A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fr ...
s
* Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...
* Submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and car ...
* European Telecommunications Satellite Organization
The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Eutelsat IGO) is an intergovernmental organisation consisting of 49 member states. It is headquartered in Paris, France. The mission of Eutelsat IGO is to maintain the rights to use radio fr ...
References
External links
*Agreement on the legal capacity, privileges and immunities
Berlin, 20 September 1976
{{Authority control Communications satellites Science and technology in the Soviet Union Space program of the Soviet Union Soviet and Russian space institutions Aerospace companies of the Soviet Union Foreign relations of the Soviet Union Eastern Bloc East Germany–Soviet Union relations Poland–Soviet Union relations Hungary–Soviet Union relations Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations Cuba–Soviet Union relations Romania–Soviet Union relations Soviet Union–Syria relations India–Soviet Union relations 1971 establishments in the Soviet Union Bulgaria–Soviet Union relations Communications in the Soviet Union Communications satellites of Russia