MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. Space-based systems are set to become essential for controlling large constellations of unmanned vehicles, said Dmitry Peskov, a special presidential envoy for digital and technological development.

"When large groups of unmanned vehicles are created, how to control them becomes a key challenge: Who is in charge, who transmits the signal, what does this signal go through?" said Peskov, who is also director general of the nonprofit organization called the Platform of the National Technological Initiative.

The idea that such groups could be effectively controlled with the help of ground-based infrastructure alone has been "universally recognized as futile," he said at the Digital Transportation conference in Moscow.

"We have come to realize that we will need to have a space-based control segment and it will be key," Peskov went on to say.

He added that Russian researchers are now busy developing these control tools, including space communication systems.