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Russia to create orbital Internet satellite cluster by 2025

The system will be operational, even if the ground infrastructure is switched off

© AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Russian Space Systems Company (part of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos) plans to implement a project to create a global satellite communications network, which will require 288 satellites operating in the 870 km orbit by 2025, Company representative and project Head Yuri Mishin said on Tuesday.

"The Efir project envisages an aerospace infocommunications network. This is the project of creating orbital Internet. We plan 288 satellites in the 870km obit. They will form a system expected to start operating in 2025," Mishin said at the presentation titled: "Space Services for the Digital Economy" in Moscow.

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The presentation was organized by Roscosmos and Russian Space Systems Company. These measures are being held with the support of TASS news agency.

According to Mishin, the system will be operational, even if the ground infrastructure is switched off.

"The system will be quite universal. We plan [to embrace] 10,000 mobile transport objects, 10,000 outlets of collective access to the Internet, 10 million personal communication subscribers and provide for about a billion transactions a day via secure channels," the project head said.

Delays in the system’s work will be minimal, from 5 to 10 miliseconds, he said.

"Upon the development of this system, the state will be able to implement mobile personal departmental emergency communications on the entire territory of Russia. Business will be able to develop its services of managing offices and production facilities and drones. At the same time, citizens will be able to be always in contact, including while on the move," he said, adding that Russian Space Systems Company planned to establish an open community of the developers of devices and services and was inviting all the parties concerned for cooperation.

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