Soyuz-2.1b launches Gonets-M satellites, first Sfera module from Vostochny spaceport

©Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

A Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle carrying three Gonets-M satellites and a Skif-D module, launched under the Sfera program, has lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, TASS correspondent reported from the site on Saturday.

In about nine minutes, the main part - the upper stage Fregat with four satellites - will separate from the third stage. It will take a little more than four hours to put the satellites into orbit. It will be carried out with the help of the booster.

It is the first rocket launch from Vostochny in 2022. The Gonets-M satellites were launched from that spaceport for the first time. Skif-D is also the first module to be launched into space under the Sfera program.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told about the Sfera program during his annual question and answer session on June 7, 2018. The program envisages the launch of communications and Earth remote sensing satellites. Former Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said then that the Sfera program would include five satellite constellations providing telecom services, and another five designed for monitoring.

The Gonets is Russia’s sole low-orbit satellite communications system designed for the global exchange of various types of information with mobile and stationary facilities, and for organizing re-broadcasting channels for various purposes.

Now four Russian satellites have made their way into orbit, including an experimental mission that could compete with SpaceX’s Starlink internet constellation.

The Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off from Site 1S at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia at 10:57 PM Moscow Time (19:57 UTC). Onboard were the Gonets-M No. 33, 34, and 35 satellites as well as an experimental satellite called Skif-D, the first vehicle in the new federal Sphere project.

The Soyuz will also be carrying an additional payload known as Skif-D. The 200 kg spacecraft is the first in a new satellite constellation known as Sphere. According to Roscosmos, the system is designed to form a system of broadband internet access across Russia. The network is expected to be like the Starlink and OneWeb satellite constellations.

The Sphere network will include groups of Yamal and Express communication satellites in geostationary orbit, Express-RV satellites in highly elliptical orbits, Marathon satellites in low Earth orbit, and Skif broadband internet access devices in medium orbits. The Skif network is planned to have 264 satellites in 12 different orbital planes at an altitude of 750 km.

However, Skif-D was placed in an orbit approximately 8,070 km above the Earth. In total, the Skif system should have 12 satellites deployed in two stages. That includes the first batch deployed by 2027 and the rest deployed by 2029.