Sfera geostationary satellite group is underfunded - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) - The development of the Express and Yamal telecommunication geostationary satellite groups is underfunded, and system operators have ordered production of just two out of the six satellites required, Director of Roscosmos's Department for Advanced Programs and the Sfera Project Sergei Prokhorov said.

"Prospective groups in non-geostationary orbits are being developed, while those in a geostationary orbit [a circular near-Earth orbit at an altitude of around 36,000 kilometers] has yet to be funded," the Roscosmos press service cited Prokhorov as saying on Tuesday.

The service life of some Russian geostationary satellites will expire by 2030, he said.

Express and Yamal geostationary system operators ordered production of two out of the six satellites required by Roscosmos's Reshetnev, Prokhorov said.

"The issue needs to be discussed. While developing long-term low- and middle-orbit groups, we cannot forget about satellites in a geostationary orbit. They need to be maintained and developed," he said.

The Space Communications state company operates the Express geostationary system, and Gazprom Space Systems is the Yamal system operator.

As reported, the Sfera orbital group will consist of five communication satellite clusters, namely, Yamal, Express-RV, Express, Skif and Marafon, as well as five remote sensing clusters, Berkut-Kh, Berkut-O, Berkut-VD, Berkut-S and Smotr, and a cluster of Grifon small low-orbit global monitoring satellites.