Reshetnev to design 2 Skif Internet satellites for Sfera network

MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) - Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems, an affiliate of Roscosmos, has reported the conclusion of a government contract for the development of two Skif Internet satellites for the Sfera federal project.

"According to the terms of contract, Reshetnev specialists will develop and build the first two satellites for the Skif satellite network, alongside a specialized ground-based facility and a ground control station," the statement said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the Sfera project in July 2018 to deploy a global satellite network for the provision of Internet and telephone service in Russia and other countries.

The Sfera orbital cluster will consist of five satellite networks, namely, Yamal, Express-RV, Express, Skif and Marafon, and the same number of remote sensing networks, namely, Berkut-X, Berkut-O, Berkut-VD, Berkut-S, and Smotr.