Roscosmos told how the Sphere satellite group will work under sanctions
The total amount of funding for the Russian multi-satellite grouping "Sphere" will amount to about 180 billion rubles, Roscosmos reported recently. What will the created grouping consist of, how much will the subscriber device of the Marathon Internet of Things system cost and how it is planned to sell satellite services under sanctions, "Gazeta.Ru" said Sergey Prokhorov, Director of the Department of Advanced Programs and the Sphere project of the Roscosmos State Corporation.
- Sergey Yuryevich, the project of the Sphere satellite constellation, the launch of which was announced four years ago, raised many questions. What was the idea of combining satellites of different purposes into one grouping?
- You are right, only experts at that time understood what a "Sphere" was. And it took us some time to convey the general ideology and concept of the program to a wider audience, including representatives of ministries and departments who were engaged in coordinating the necessary documents and developing recommendations: the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Transport, etc.
The idea of the "Sphere" is to combine into a single system the opportunities and services that appeared together with the development of space technologies. Why is that? After analyzing global projects and trends, we came to the conclusion that it makes no sense to follow in the footsteps of competitors, new approaches and proposals are needed. They should not focus on some narrow segment, for example, providing broadband Internet access, but should link products and services based on communication capabilities, navigation, meteorology, broadcasting, satellite Internet, remote sensing of the Earth, the Internet of Things into a common line. We can say that we are talking about creating an ecosystem of applied space services, which will become a serious driver for the development of all spheres of the economy and life of the country. It is important that these services will be focused on ordinary people, and not only on companies and the public sector.
For example, satellite communications used to be mainly used by oil and gas workers in hard-to-reach areas, as well as the banking sector and state consumers. The reason is banal - expensive and difficult. It is proposed to solve this problem by integrating the services of satellite and cellular operators: using the capabilities of a cell phone in the city, the consumer will not lose anything by going beyond the boundaries of the "cell".
Sergey Prokhorov
Image source: Roscosmos
- Was it the same with Earth sounding once?
- yes. Previously, this service was limited to obtaining and interpreting satellite images in the interests of government agencies, but now it is increasingly used in various sectors of the economy: energy, agriculture and forestry, oil and gas, construction and transport.
"Sphere" will be indispensable for those involved in transportation and logistics. The satellites will help track the movement of goods and passengers by rail, sea or road, and provide reliable communication to passengers on the way. For those companies that have a complex geography of their production assets, spacecraft will provide remote control of equipment and infrastructure, check the work of personnel at facilities and even conduct exploration of natural resources.
In addition, all advanced countries are striving for the development of unmanned vehicles and robotic systems. Whoever is the first to collect satellite surveillance, positioning and telecommunications capabilities on their platform will get a chance to build a network of drones on a global scale - in the air, on the ground, on the water and create for themselves a competitive advantage in the market, the potential and volume of which is huge. I am convinced that this service has a great future, it can change our lives in the same way as a smartphone once did.
For our country, the demand for the "Sphere" is dictated not only by the desire to comply with technological trends, but also by considerations of the humanitarian and social order, as well as the elimination of digital inequality.
A significant part of the territory of the Russian Federation is located in high latitudes, where the population density is low, and the zones of taiga, tundra and permafrost interfere with the laying of fiber-optic communication networks. In such places, only satellites can provide a full range of telecommunications services and ensure the connectivity of territories.
Thus, thanks to the Sphere project, perhaps the most modern communication and monitoring system in the world will be created, including both existing and promising space infrastructure.
- The volume of the proposed financing has changed more than once in a smaller direction. What volume are you counting on today?
- There were several key points that seriously changed the structure of the program since 2018. In particular, when the development of the GLONASS navigation system, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Defense and the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission, it was decided to continue separately. The requested amounts of funding after this decision, respectively, decreased significantly. In the future, I think, such circumstances as the pandemic and the need to solve other urgent state tasks also affected. Now we are in the framework of the fourth iteration, which was supported by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance of Russia. In 2021, a target subsidy of 7 billion rubles was allocated for priority work on the Sphere project. Also, in the budget for 2022-2024, 7 billion rubles have been allocated annually, that is, the "Sphere" within the framework of the already adopted federal budget has been provided with financing for a total of 28 billion rubles. On the horizon until 2030, the declared parameters of annual budget financing still have the same order.
- What will the grouping look like, taking into account the approved funding? How many communication and remote sensing satellites will there be?
- The current configuration of the Sphere involves the launch of 137 satellites (132 serial and five experimental) of the Marathon Internet of Things grouping, six Skif devices for broadband Internet access, four Express-RV communication satellites, as well as Earth observation satellites. Among them are the devices "Berkut-O" (survey survey), "Berkut-VD" (high-detail survey) and "Berkut-X" (radar survey).
Speaking about the next steps, our primary task is to launch the Skif-D broadband access demonstrator satellite in 2022 to secure an orbital frequency resource for our country (one of the obligations to the International Telecommunication Union), then the Marathon Internet of Things demonstrator satellite, and at the end of 2025 - the first satellite of the highly elliptical communication system "Express-RV".
In general, the upcoming three-year stage of the "Sphere" can be called preparatory: within its framework, various technologies will be worked out and prototypes of equipment will be manufactured. The results of the stage determine which way the process of mass production and deployment of full-scale groupings will go.
- At what capacities are the satellites planned to be assembled?
- In 2021, agreements were signed with TsNIIMash and Reshetnev ISS. The assembly of the Skif-D spacecraft is already underway in Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk Region) and the serial production of Marathon satellites will be organized. In the technical specifications, we outlined the requirements not only for the cost of creating the Marathon spacecraft itself, but also for the cost of its operation in orbit. It is planned to deliver 22 or 44 such satellites into orbit in one launch.
TSNIIMASHU (the main research institute of the space industry) has been tasked with organizing the creation of a unified platform for multi-satellite groupings. The ideology is simple: despite the different specifics, spacecraft should be based on the same technical solutions with a high degree of unification.
A competition was held in which 12 organizations participated, including both Roscosmos enterprises - VNIIEM, Lavochkin NGO, ISS, Progress RCC, and private companies, for example, Sputnix and Gazprom SPKA. According to the results, four contractors were selected who will work under contracts with the institute.
On the basis of the platforms being created, it is planned to develop groupings of survey and high-detail survey satellites "Berkut-O" and "Berkut-VD", as well as radar monitoring "Berkut-X" and "SMOTR-R".
By the way, over the past two years since the start of system design, the capabilities of payload developers have improved. For example: if earlier the survey monitoring parameters included a resolution of 2.5-5 m, now this value is already 1.5 m with a viewing band of 85 km. The indicators of high-detail shooting will also improve. There will also be additional functions, in particular high-detail video shooting.
The most important attention continues to be paid to radar spacecraft. They are especially useful where round-the-clock all-weather surveillance is required, for example in the Arctic. Thanks to these satellites, the captains of ships when traveling along the Northern Sea Route will receive operational information about the ice situation along the route of the entire route, despite heavy clouds or a polar night.
- Regarding the Internet of Things. Where will the subscriber devices be manufactured?
- Roscosmos should develop requirements for these devices, and who will produce them is a secondary question. The priority, of course, will be the organizations of the State Corporation, but I note that a large number of enterprises and even universities are engaged in equipment for consumers in Russia. In general, subscriber equipment should be of two types: for mobile and stationary objects, since the Marathon IoT Internet of Things system is planned to be used in many sectors of the economy. We are also working on the integration of Marathon IoT capabilities into the terminals of the COSPAS-SARSAT international search and rescue system and ERA-GLONASS equipment.
- The Starlink and OneWeb satellite systems are the Internet for individual households. Will broadband Internet in the "Sphere" be the same?
- It is a big misconception to believe that Starlink is designed to work exclusively in the mass consumer segment. Experts are well aware that the system created by Elon Musk has a dual purpose and other undeclared capabilities. This was indirectly proved by a special military operation in Ukraine, when subscriber equipment for access to satellite Internet was provided to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And our long-term observations allow us to conclude that the interests of the Pentagon are hidden behind the noble reasoning.
OneWeb also cannot be called a satellite communication system for individual households. This is a system of collective use, when there is a base station to which end users are connected via terrestrial communication channels.
Why is this done? Because the price of personal subscriber devices for working directly with spacecraft is too high - $ 35-55 thousand. And because of the very expensive devices on phased antenna arrays, OneWeb switched to a model of two side-by-side full-turn transceiver antennas that monitor flying low-orbit satellites so that there are no interruptions in communication. It is also quite an expensive solution.
In the Sphere, the Express-RV grouping will be responsible for personal broadband Internet, especially at high latitudes and along the Northern Sea Route, and the SKIF grouping will be responsible for collective access. It is planned that the bandwidth of one SKIF device will be more than 150 gigabits per second, respectively, the entire system can be considered a grouping of the terrabit class.
- Why are you making such a bet on the Internet of Things? Do you consider a promising market for Russia?
- First of all, it is necessary for the development of unmanned transport and infrastructure monitoring. For example, Sberbank is now actively working on unmanned collection, which needs monitoring and communication systems, regardless of whether cellular networks are deployed or not.
Thanks to the Marathon grouping, services such as monitoring the state of industrial infrastructure in remote areas, monitoring the transportation of dangerous goods and the satellite component of the ERA-GLONASS system will be available. In addition, timely transmission of a signal through space - about leaks, fires and other malfunctions - will prevent man-made and environmental disasters in many industries. In addition to tasks for the economy, there are also social services, for example, search and rescue. This task is solved using the satellite "life button", which also works thanks to the "Marathon IoT" system, positioning the object in space and transmitting an SOS signal.
- What is the "Button of Life"?
- This principle has already been implemented in ERA-GLONASS. And in the terms of reference for the Marathon, the service for finding people is defined as a priority. A subscriber terminal is being developed for it - this is a small device with a built-in antenna that can be sewn into outerwear or integrated into an accessory - a backpack, a bracelet, and it will be able to work autonomously for several years.
- How much will the subscription device for the Marathon cost?
- The cost of a personal device will be about 1.5 thousand rubles. A modem and an antenna are integrated into it, allowing to provide a communication channel with the satellite. In addition, sensors can be used to monitor flooding, seismic activity or fire. They will also work autonomously for several years.
- If the business model of Starlink and OneWeb is more or less clear, then what is the business model of the "Sphere"?
- No one knows the real business model of Starlink and OneWeb, because the functionality of these systems solves not only civil tasks and everyone is already talking about it quite openly. If we talk about the "Sphere", then in this case it is incorrect to express the effect only in the income of operators. The project has many social and humanitarian aspects, which I mentioned earlier, and even lofty goals. The main ones are the elimination of digital inequality, improving the connectivity of our country's territories and radically improving the security and quality of life of all its citizens. The cost of saved human lives is also difficult to "monetize" equivalently.
As for the prices for satellite communication services, we set strict requirements that they be commensurate with the tariffs of land-based operators.
- The territory of Russia occupies 3% of the area of the globe. If the Sphere is being created for Russian consumers, is it effective to create satellites that will operate at 3% of capacity and time, and at budget expense?
- For the "Sphere" we are creating systems that are, first of all, regional, focused on the interests of our country. Of the global ones, we have a Marathon system that will cover the entire globe. However, the capabilities of the "Sphere" are applicable in other geographical areas.
After all, what is a satellite grouping? Figuratively speaking, it is a bus for transmitting information between any points of the world. In simple words, in order to ensure work in another country, the local operator must put a base station there, which will receive information from the satellite and transmit it to the public network.
- And if other countries forbid it?
- Then only personal devices can be used in this region (unless they are also banned). In this case, the satellite will receive information from a personal device, fly to the territory of Russia and transmit data to the public network through our own infrastructure.
- Are you going to win over foreign consumers in the future and how, especially under the current sanctions?
- In the remote sensing segment, all operators try to work with all existing orbital groupings. Of course, it can always depend on who is the owner of the satellite - whether he will provide you with this or that picture. But practically no one resorts to such measures, and everyone works quite openly.
The telecommunications market is also built in such a way that everyone works with everyone, although there are political and territorial restrictions. There is a tougher competition compared to remote sensing. Our operators have learned how to work in international markets. There is a very large flow of orders, including from Southeast Asia, Africa and South America.
The orbital groupings of the Sphere project will be created with the participation of these operators, and we hope that international cooperation, which is sufficiently developed in this area, will allow us to enter the markets with qualitatively new services.
The satellite operator Sphere - Space Information Technologies (LLC Sphere), created on April 12 of this year, will also deal with commercialization issues. The work of the new satellite operator will be built in close cooperation with traditional market leaders - FSUE "Space Communications" and JSC "Gazprom Space Systems". The expected synergy will simultaneously cover all segments of the satellite communications market, providing services "within one window".
Pavel Kotlyar
