TASS, October 24. Roscosmos plans to put by 2026 nine satellites into the Arctic orbit. Four satellites will be used for the broadband Internet access, three - for radar surveillance, two for hydro-meteorology purposes, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and the president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev said at a meeting at the Vostochny spaceport.

"A key direction in the Northern Sea Route's development is to have an Arctic orbital satellite group," he said. "The plan is that by 2024 two Arktika-M satellites will be put into the orbit - they will transmit data on the hydro-meteorology conditions in the high latitudes, and three radar satellites (two Kondor-FKA and one Obzor-R). By 2026 - four Express-RV satellites for the broadband Internet access."

Roscosmos' Director General Yury Borisov said in choosing satellites for the orbital group, the corporation had considered requests from the Northern Sea Route operators.

The first Arktika-M hydro-meteorology satellite was pun into a Molniya-type highly elliptical orbit in February, 2021.

The Northern Sea Route is the shortest water route between the European part of Russia and the Far East. The route from the Kara Gate to Providence Bay is about 5,600 km long. It lies within the Russian territorial waters and within its exclusive economic zone, which is specifically important in the conditions of disrupted logistics supply chains due to external sanctions.