Russia's SR Space to Launch Country's First Internet-of-Things Satellite in 2024

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Private Russian company SR Space told Sputnik that it was going to launch its first internet-of-things (IoT) satellite SR NET in 2024 and use it to test the technologies necessary to create a full-fledged grouping of such devices.

The presentation of the device, which will be the first private IoT satellite in Russia, took place at a Moscow exhibition of unmanned aircraft systems, taking place from November 17-27.

"It is assumed that SR NET will become the Russian analogue of the Starlink satellite system. The first launch of the SR NET spacecraft is planned in 2024. Flight tests in orbit of the SR NET demonstrator will last for three to six months, after which a decision will be made on the configuration and technical characteristics of the orbital grouping," the company's press service said.

The satellite will be equipped with six flat phased array antennas and a transmit-receive parabolic antenna for communication in the Ka and Ku bands, with a bandwidth of 40 gigabits per second. The device weighing 460 kilograms (1014 pounds) is planned to be launched into orbit at an altitude of nearly 600 kilometers (373 miles).

Users of the new space system should be primarily telecom operators and other organizations that provide IoT services.

According to the company's estimates, SR NET may be in demand among organizations in the fields of oil and gas production, geological exploration and intellectual agriculture, as well as in transport monitoring services. In addition, satellite communications are important in remote and hard-to-reach areas, including the Arctic zone.

Russian space agency Roscosmos is planning to create a constellation of IoT satellites within the framework of the Sfera project. The first demonstrator satellite is planned to be sent into orbit in 2023.