MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. The Geoscan-4 and Geoscan-5 microsatellites equipped with communications equipment from the Gonets Satellite System company (part of Roscosmos) have been launched into their designated orbit, Gonets said in a statement.
"Two small spacecraft developed by the Geoscan group of companies with a connected payload of the Gonets system were launched into the planned orbit during a July 25 launch from the Vostochny spaceport of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle," the statement says.
The Soyuz-2.1b rocket was launched from site 1C of the Vostochny spaceport at 8.54 a.m. Moscow time. It carried the Fregat upper stage with Ionosphere-M devices No. 3 and No. 4, as well as 18 associated satellites, into its reference orbit. The satellites include nine devices manufactured by the Geoscan group of companies, including two with the Messenger communication equipment.
According to Gonets Satellite System CEO Andrey Manoilo, today's launch marked the beginning of a unique experiment in the interaction of two connected groups in different orbits - the Gonets system already deployed at an altitude of 1,500 km and the Geoscan test segment at an altitude of 500 km.
"We will analyze the operation of the dual-band connected payload, which is installed on the small spacecraft for the first time, in particular, we will evaluate energy efficiency, load capacity, and many others. An analysis of the on-board complex's operation will make it possible to develop optimal algorithms for simultaneous customer service from devices in different orbits," he said.
Manoilo said that together with the colleagues from the Geoscan group of companies, approaches to the creation and management of multi-platform satellite systems will be worked out.
"We believe that this will allow us not only to improve the mechanisms of operator activity, but also to branch out into new segments of consumers, including the rapidly growing market of unmanned aircraft systems. The first signals have been received from the devices, and after they are taken over, we will begin testing payloads," he said.
Alexey Semyonov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Geoscan Group, added that the two experimental satellites will carry out two-way data transmission, which is widely used in remote monitoring systems, personal communications and the Internet of Things.