The meeting was chaired by Yuri Urlichich, First Deputy General Director of Roscosmos State Corporation, and Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom PJSC Management Committee. The parties discussed the progress in the construction of a spacecraft assembly plant (SPKA) by Gazprom in the Moscow Region, as well as the issue of Roscosmos State Corporation joining the authorized capital of the project operator, Gazprom SPKA LLC.
The production of civil spacecraft will be organized at the SPKA facilities for the needs of Gazprom and other customers. These are, in particular, communication satellites “Yamal” and optical satellites for the Earth remote sensing system “SMOTR”. In addition, it is possible to assemble and test serial small spacecraft within the framework of the promising Sphere program, which is being implemented by the Roscosmos State Corporation.
During the event, Dmitry Sevastyanov, General Director of Gazprom Space Systems JSC, and Yuri Urlichich signed a cooperation agreement. The document, in particular, reflects the interest of the State Corporation “Roscosmos” in the creation of spacecraft at the facilities of the SPKA. The state corporation is also ready to use the Earth remote sensing data from the SMOTR-V satellite. It is scheduled to launch in 2024 and will, among other things, be equipped with equipment to monitor greenhouse gas emissions. The company will provide Roskosmos with up to 30% of the capacity of this spacecraft.
The parties will also work out the possibility of using the network of receiving stations of the Unified Earth Sensing Information System (the system was created by the State Corporation Roscosmos) to receive data from Gazprom’s spacecraft.
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Space constellation of satellite communications and broadcasting “Yamal” provides the organization of trunk satellite communication channels and broadband access to information resources. It currently has five telecommunication satellites. Their capabilities are actively used by TV companies, communication providers and other organizations.
The SMOTR space remote sensing system is designed to monitor production facilities of the Gazprom Group. The satellites of the SMOTR system will expand the capabilities of geotechnical monitoring and control of security zones to ensure a high level of industrial and environmental safety of Gazprom’s facilities.
In November 2019, the Roscosmos State Corporation and Gazprom Space Systems JSC signed an Agreement on the basic principles of participation in the SPKA project. It reflects the intention of the State Corporation Roscosmos to enter the charter capital of Gazprom SPKA.