Sfera (satellite Constellation)
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Sfera (previously Efir or эфир) is a telecommunication project of the
Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
aiming to create and operate a satellite group maintaining communication to various terrestrial objects. The project is supported by the corresponding Federal Targeted Program and is proposed until 2030. The initial plan proposed 640 satellites by 2030 and supported terrestrial and aerial autonomous users.


History

Sfera inherited to an earlier global satellite program Efir, also known as Global Multifuctional Infocommunication Satellite System (''Russian'' "Глобальная многофункциональная инфокоммуникационная спутниковая система", ГМИСС), aimed at competing with foreign
OneWeb OneWeb Communications Ltd., doing business as Eutelsat OneWeb, is a subsidiary of the French group Eutelsat providing broadband satellite Internet services in low Earth orbit (LEO). The company is headquartered in London, and has offices in P ...
and
Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...
. The new development was included in the federal program “Digital Economy” in 2017, extending until 2024 and was announced on the “ Direct Line with Vladimir Putin” in 2018. The launches of 640 satellites were planned for 2022-2028 (6 years), and the system would integrate a few pre-existing projects: navigational
GLONASS GLONASS (, ; ) is a Russian satellite navigation system operating as part of a radionavigation-satellite service. It provides an alternative to Global Positioning System (GPS) and is the second navigational system in operation with global cove ...
, TV transmitting
Express Express, The Expresss or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * ''The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid * The Expre ...
, personal communications
Gonets Gonets (Russian Гонец, for ''Messenger'') is a Russian civilian low Earth orbit communications satellite system. It consists of a number of satellites, derived from Strela military communications satellites. The first two satellites, which ...
, and several new ones: comunicational Express-RV, IoT data-transmitting Marafon, TV-transmitting Luch, mid-orbital broadband internet Skif and telecomminicational Efir. On October 25, 2021 Dmitry Rigozin, then head of
Roskosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space flights, cosmonautics programs, and aerospace research. Originating from t ...
, announced that the 640 satellites were to form five groups for telecom (satellite series Yamal, Express-RV, Express, Skif, Marafon IoT) and five groups for monitoring in various specters (Smotr, Berkut-O, Berkut-S, Berkut-VD, Berkut-X,L,P), while the latter to be able to radioscan the Arctic first and foremost. The first satellite launched was Skif-D on October 23, 2022, which was in fact a test vehicle to explore the technical possibilities and do radiation analysis as well as start the specter utilization (protection) for the future. This satellite was produced and tested in August, 2022. Apart from monitoring and telecom, the Sfera satellites are to be providing broadband access to internet and IoT connectivity for over 50 mln devices while simultaneously supporting the presidential, governmental and industrial lines of communication.


Constellation

In April, 2022 the government-confirmed project of Sfera included 162 satellites with expeditures of 180 bn rubles (€2,5 bn).


Telecom satellites

''Skif-D'' is the first launched satellite of the lot, providing demo broadband access: * Mass no more than 200 kg * Power consumption around 250 W * Circular medium orbit at 8070 km * 3 years service time.


Skif

12 satellites for broadband access, circular medium orbit at 8070 km, with mass over 1 metric ton. Further runs of the satellites will have phased array antennas, permitting for many times the throughput. Service time projected is 12 years.


Marafon-IoT

264 satellites for internet of things, at the 750 km orbit in 12 planes, launched in packs of 22-44. Service time up to 5 years, with prompt replacement following, production cost 35 mln rubles (2022). 264 was the proposed number for the initial total constellation size of 380 satellites.


Yamal

2 confirmed satellites until 2030, at
geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...
(36K km). Yamal-501 are to be produced at Gazprom SPKA (itself being under construction) in 2024, Yamal-502 in 2025. 6 more planned for beyond 2030.


Express

7 satellites for digital TV broadcasting, geosynchronous orbit (36K km).


Express-RV

4 satellites for Arctic communications and internet access, 39300/1000 km
highly elliptical orbit A highly elliptical orbit (HEO) is an elliptic orbit with high eccentricity, usually referring to one around Earth. Examples of inclined HEO orbits include Molniya orbits, named after the Molniya Soviet communication satellites which used them, ...
.


Optical and optical-electronic imaging, hi-res optical-electronic imaging, radar monitoring


Smotr

3 satellites until 2030. Smtr-V to be produced at Gazprom SPKA plant (itself being under construction) before 2024. Six in total until 2035.  


Berkut-O

40 satellites for overview optical monitoring (with resolution 2–5 m/px), 600 km orbit, 40–50 km field of view.


Berkut-VD

28 satellites of high-detail optical scanning (0.4–1 m/px resolution), 500 km orbit, 10-km field of view.


Berkut-X, Berkut-XLP

12 satellites of radar scanning of the surface, 700 km orbit.


Berkut-C

16 satellites for overview surface inspection at medium resolution, 700 km orbit (with the initial 380 size of the constellation).


References

{{Russian space program Satellite constellations Satellites of Russia Satellites in low Earth orbit Communications satellites of Russia