GONETS Orbital Communication Satellite System. / August 28, 2013 /
In Yakutia the Gonets satellite system is being tested now. The mission of the Gonets series satellites is to provide difficult of access regions in the North and Far East with communication. One more important mission to be fulfilled by the satellite constellation is a space monitoring of technological objects. New user terminals of the system will be put into operation soon and three Gonets series satellites will be launched in the middle of September. By 2015, the number of the Gonets series satellites will be planned to be 12. From Yakutsk to Neryungri there is taiga and impassable mountains. Even more than 300 years after the discovery of these lands by the Russian explorers in the 17th century, these lands are remote places as before. The cellular network may not exist hundred kilometers around. So this territory is the best ground to test the satellite communication system.
A. Tarasov, First Deputy Minister for Transport, the Republic of Sakha says this low-orbit satellite system will be used to provide a stable communication.
Gonets is the Russian satellite communication system that must cover each point of our country and the world at large. The tests of the Gonets are still in progress in Yakutia.
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Gonets is a multifunction system of personal satellite communication. The system comprises space and ground segments. At the heart of the system are low-earth orbiting spacecraft manufactured by JSC „Academician M.F. Reshetnev“ Information Satellite Systems. The first Gonets satellite was launched in 1996. Three new Gonets-M satellites are scheduled for launch in autumn this year.
A. Zharov, Chief Designer of the OJSC Satellite System „Gonets“ tells that they have come to the Republic of Sakha on the Mintrans’s initiative because they determined in accordance with the R&D requirements specification the experimental zones where there were many remote settlements without any communication. The Republic itself is covered by mobile communication insufficiently. He considers that under such conditions the Gonets system may be used first.
D. Bakanov, Director General, OJSC Satellite System „Gonets“ says the Gonets system is being tested in the most hard-to-reach areas of Russia. There are many places with communication gaps in Siberia, Far East, and far North. Because of this the Gonets system is used.
Such foreign satellite communication systems as Globstar, Inmarsat, and Iridium engage in competition with Russian Gonets in signal stability. The Russian satellites yield to the western ones in data rate. But the Gonets missions are rather different. The main task is to transfer technical information in text form. For example, data on water level in hydraulic works which is topical issue for today, bridge footing condition, pipeline pressure, or vehicle coordinates.
D. Bakanov tells such data as temperature, pressure, and gas and oil volume passed through a pipeline needs to be monitored on order to prevent a disaster.
This is of particular importance for Yakutia because of the relief and remote settlements. As soon as we are out of the GSM coverage, a standby channel is switched on. A built-in GLONASS-GPS module will determine your location.
M. Trofimov, Chairman of State Committee on Innovation Policy and Science of the Republic of Sakha mentioned about the recent helicopter fall and the possibility of minimizing the search and rescue area if the Gonets system had been available on board the helicopter. .
The first Gonets series satellite has operated in space already 16 years. As a rule, the lifetime of low-orbiting satellites is 3-4 years.
D. Bakanov says there are four satellites in orbit for today, one of these is old: the first generation Gonets-D1 (launched in 1996) and three Gonets-M satellites. This constellation will be considered to be complete if it is composed of 12 spacecraft in accordance with the existing performance specifications. Now the work on a new Gonets system – Gonets-M1 has already started.
The Gonets system is easy and reliable for use on ground. This system will be accessible for private customers very soon.
To search and rescue a man in taiga without coordinates, communication and even motion vector is very difficult. The Gonets system will help in such a situation. The system becomes close to each man. TV studio of ROSCOSMOS
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