Russia must increase satellites in orbit fivefold: Roscosmos chief
The CEO of Roscosmos says Russia has about 200 satellites in orbit and must produce 250 spacecraft annually.
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A Soyuz capsule of the International Space Station (ISS), on Jan. 11, 2023 (AP)
Russia must have at least 1,000 satellites in orbit by 2023, up from the current 200, according to Yuri Borisov, the head of the country's state space corporation Roscosmos.
"In our opinion, we should have a constellation of at least 1,000 satellites by 2030," Borisov said at the Korolev Academic Space Conference in Moscow.
He added that Russia's current satellite production is "insufficient."
Russia currently has about 200 satellites in orbit and must begin producing 250 spacecraft annually in order to reach this five-fold increase by 2030, according to the CEO of Roscosmos, taking into account the gradual replacement of spent satellites already in orbit.
The 1,000 satellite target should vary in function and perform communication, remote sensing, weather monitoring, and navigation tasks.
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Earlier this month, Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, reported that Russia intends to add two Glonass-K satellites and one Glonass-K2 to the constellation soon but the exact launch and installation dates are yet to be announced.
Per Glavkosmos, there are also plans to launch a lightweight Angara-1.2 rocket and a heavy-lift Angara-A5 rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in 2023, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, north of Moscow.
