Ten satellites may join Russian remote sensing satellite constellation in 2024 - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) - Russia plans to put ten Earth remote sensing satellites into orbit in 2024, Roscosmos said.

"The Obzor-R 1 and Kondor-FKA 2 radar surveillance satellites, the Resurs-P 4 and Aist-2T 1 and two electro-optical observation satellites, the Meteor-M 2-4 hydrometeorological satellites and the Ionosfera-M 1, 2, 3 and 4 helio-geophysical monitoring satellites are expected to join the in-orbit constellation of Earth observation satellites in 2024," Roscosmos said in an end-of-year report.

Roscosmos said on December 26 that Russia operates a constellation of 229 satellites, including 163 with a socioeconomic purpose.

"Russia needs to accelerate the enlargement of its space group and improve consumer characteristics by changing the generation of satellites," Roscosmos head Yury Borisov said.

BRICS countries agreed to develop exchanges of Earth remote sensing data, Borisov said on July 27. The heads of the BRICS countries' space agencies signed an agreement on cooperation in exchanging this data on August 18, 2021, Roscosmos said.