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Russia to launch six Gonets telecoms satellites in 2020

Three Gonets satellites will be launched in September and three more in November, according to the developer

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. Russia will launch six Gonets telecoms satellites in 2020 instead of three as was reported earlier, General Director of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company Nikolai Testoyedov told TASS on Tuesday.

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"This year, we will launch six more satellites of the Gonets system," he said.

Three Gonets satellites will be launched in September and three more in November, he specified.

A source in the space industry earlier told TASS that the first launch of Gonets-M communications satellites atop a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk spaceport was scheduled for 2:20 p.m. Moscow time on September 28. Previously, the satellites were launched atop Rokot converted carrier rockets.

The Gonets is Russia’s sole low-orbit satellite communications system designed for the global exchange of various types of information with mobile and stationary facilities, and for organizing re-broadcasting channels for various purposes. The system allows transmitting Glonass coordinate data from a mobile post to remote monitoring and communications centers, irrespective of a subscriber’s location.

The Gonets next-generation satellite system will offer communications, including telephone services, in hard-to-access places, including the Arctic, and provide infrastructure for the Internet of things. In the long run, it will allow transmitting data online from any objects, including mobile. The orbital grouping is expected to comprise 28 satellites in low near-Earth orbit.

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