Russia to increase number of civilian spacecraft in orbit to 180 by 2030s - research institute director
MOSCOW. July 19 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian orbital constellation of satellites performing socio-economic and research functions will amount to180 satellites by the 2030s, in addition to military satellites, Gennady Raikunov, the general director of the Central Machinery Building Research Institute (TSNIIMASH), told Interfax-AVN.
"The country's need for using spacecraft for the socio-economic sector and the research community envisions intensive development of the orbital constellation. The target for the period up to the 2030s is the deployment and maintenance of a constellation numbering about 180 spacecraft," he said.
This number will include about 35 fixed-line communication and broadcasting satellites, some 40 personal communication satellites, 10 hydrometeorology satellites, 30 remote sensing satellites, up to 25 satellites for fundamental space studies, and up to 40 navigation satellites.
The Russian orbital constellation currently includes about 100 satellites, and about two thirds of them are military and dual-purpose ones. A significant number of these satellites have expired warranty service lives.