Launch of first Marafon satellite from Vostochny Cosmodrome planned for Dec 26 - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Oct 4 (Interfax) - The first Internet of Things satellite of the Marafon low-orbit constellation is planned to be launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on December 26, Roscosmos said on Wednesday.

"The new satellite will be launched from Vostochny on December 26," Roscosmos said in a statement n Telegram.

The satellite will be put into orbit 750 kilometers above Earth, it said.

On September 7, Roscosmos said it signed a government contract with Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems to build 132 satellites of the Marafon low-orbit constellation supporting aircraft and mobile Internet services.

On September 28, Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems General Director Yevgeny Nesterov released a presentation saying the company was planning to build 271 satellites of the kind in 2024-2030.

The Sfera telecommunication project will comprise five constellations of telecom satellites (Yamal, Express-RV, Express, Skif and Marafon) and five constellations of remote sensing satellites (Berkut-Kh, Berkut-O, Berkut-VD, Berkut-S and Smotr).

On October 22, the first satellite of the Sfera project, Skif-D, was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.