Sergei Sobyanin: Moscow is developing a new generation of high-speed Internet

A global satellite internet system is being created in the capital. Sergei Sobyanin inspected the production site of Bureau 1440 aerospace company, which is developing a low-orbit satellite constellation for high-speed data transmission as part of the Data Economy national project.

“Moscow is the undisputed center of space technologies, and of the rocket and space industry, which consists of dozens of enterprises and currently employs about 30,000 people. Most of these are traditional enterprises that were established back in Soviet times. These are large organizations, such as Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center JSC. But nowadays there are a number of new start-ups—innovative, high-tech, modern enterprises that are being created practically from scratch. This enterprise is one of them, and it is developing at an impressive rate. Moscow will do everything possible to assist in developing such enterprises in order to ensure not only the development of technology in Moscow, but also to promote scientific and technological independence in our country in the field of satellite technology. This is extremely important for both civilian and military purposes. We need to have our own technologies, our own satellites in order to ensure the normal functioning of the entire national economy, as we used to say, and to support our national security,” said Sergei Sobyanin during a tour of the production site.

Russian aerospace company Bureau 1440, part of X Holding, was established in 2020. It is the developer and operator of a low-orbit satellite constellation that will enable broadband Internet access with data transmission speeds of up to one gigabit per second with minimal latency anywhere on Earth.

“Space is truly a part of both the future and the present. This is the new digital economy. While space research used to be more about pure science, now we can’t imagine our lives without navigation and communication systems. And of course, the system we are developing at Bureau 1440 is the foundation of our country’s digital future. This is a system that will enable communications not only anywhere in Russia, but around the world. It is needed by the public and by major businesses, and it is essential for unmanned transportation technologies, decision support and decision-making systems, and artificial intelligence. In just four years, our young team has expanded in size to some two thousand employees, three quarters of whom are based in Moscow,” said Alexey Shelobkov, General Director of Bureau 1440 LLC.

Today, he said, the aerospace company not only develops but also manufactures. For example, the first major robotic facility for the production of solar batteries in Russia is being created on the site of the Moscow Technopolis SEZ. The production power required to successfully put the Russian satellite constellation into orbit is 750 thousand watts.

“Six satellites have already been put into orbit and tests of key technologies have been successfully completed. At the site of the Moscow Technopolis SEZ in Pechatniki, the company is completing construction and installation works and preparing to launch full-scale production of satellite telecommunications elements. More than 2,000 engineers and employees of high-tech companies from Moscow, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk and other cities are involved in the process,” the Mayor of Moscow wrote on his Telegram channel. 

Source: Sergei Sobyanin’s Telegram channel @mos_sobyanin 

Three satellites were launched into orbit in June 2023 as part of the Rassvet-1 experimental mission, and three more in May 2024 as part of the second experimental mission, Rassvet-2. The satellites are intended for the flight testing of devices and components that will form the basis of a future low-orbit satellite constellation.

By February 2025, all necessary technology and component tests had been successfully completed, and the company began preparing for full-scale production.

It is expected that the main users of the innovative high-speed Internet access service will be transportation and oil companies, energy companies, companies in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, telecom operators, government agencies, emergency services, and companies working in the field of tourism and geological exploration.

In the four years since it was founded, the company has developed from a research project to a major enterprise that has completed the successful orbital testing of key technologies for a low-orbit communications satellite constellation. The company’s development and testing centers are located in Moscow, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Smolensk and Minsk. The company employs more than 2,000 people, 80 percent of whom are engineers and employees in its high-tech production facilities.

The main high-tech complex working on the creation of a low-orbit satellite communications constellation is located in Moscow. The full-cycle enterprise has its own development, design, testing and production centers for space system components, as well as a mission control center for its own low-orbit satellite constellation. Moscow also develops and manufactures terminals for space-to-space inter-satellite laser telecommunications and components for Earth-space-Earth radio telecommunications, as well as telecommunication devices, solar batteries and spacecraft propulsion systems.

Currently the company is completing construction and installation works and preparing for the start of full-scale production of satellite communication elements on the site of the Moscow Technopolis SEZ in Pechatniki. The SEZ resident status will allow it to enjoy city tax benefits and customs preferences.

Sergei Sobyanin: Moscow remains Russia’s high-tech center

On the development of Moscow’s aerospace industry

Moscow is the center of Russia’s rocket and space industry. More than 40 enterprises, scientific and technical centers, laboratories and research institutes present in the capital employ more than 30,000 thousand people. Among them are engineers and designers, developers and other specialists in related fields, thanks to whom the city is able to create almost everything for spacecraft—from ultralight cables to launch vehicles and components.

In 2024, manufacturers of aircraft, including spacecraft, and related equipment increased shipments by 11.7 percent compared to 2023, supplying products worth about 214.4 billion rubles.

The Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center, in Moscow, is one of the core enterprises of the Roscosmos State Corporation, the national leader in the development and production of space vehicles with a range of payloads, and components for such vehicles, for federal and commercial programs. For example, the company created the third stage, assemblies, head fairing and other parts of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket, which was launched on April 11, 2024.

The Academician Pilyugin Research and Production Center for Automation and Instrumentation is engaged in the development of control systems for rocket and space technology. It was here that the control system for the Angara-A5 rocket was created, as well as a unified hardware and software complex that provides control of pre-launch preparation and flight mode for the Proton-M launch vehicle. In addition, the center was equipped with an integrated inertial-satellite control system manufactured by NPTsKAP JSC, and the Fregat upper rocket stage designed to launch spacecraft into various specified orbits.

One unique development of Moscow’s industrial enterprises is space bread. The capital’s Baking Industry Scientific Research Institute (SRI) is responsible for its production. The bread is supplied to astronauts in the form of mini loaves, and it is stored for 15 months. The Research Institute produces other food for astronauts, including flour cakes with onions, cheese and ketchup, and cupcakes and tea rolls.

Moscow’s Spetskabel cable plant produces cable for the onboard SpaceWire computer networks. It transmits information at 400 megabits per second—four times faster than other similar products. In its manufacture a lightweight foam insulation technology is used, which makes the cable thinner and lighter than foreign equivalents. The operating temperature is from minus 198 to plus 200 degrees Celsius, which guarantees stable operation in the extreme conditions of space.

Moscow’s ASK engineering center tests the electronic components for rocket and space industry products in the components of ground simulators for training astronauts for space flight, as well as many other devices. They are tested for shock resistance, to determine the critical frequencies of the product and other parameters.

Key space industry facilities utilize ventilation systems made by Moscow enterprises. Thus, the Galvent ventilation factory manufactures systems to ensure a comfortable microclimate in the Vostochny and Plesetsk cosmodromes, in scientific and production centers throughout the country, as well as in the center of operation of ground-based space infrastructure facilities.

Sergei Sobyanin unveils unrivalled Moscow-born space developments

There are other companies operating in Moscow’s space industry sector. For example, the N.A. Dollezhal Research and Design Institute of Power Engineering produces systems for the automation of reactors and nuclear space plants.

Expertstroyproekt produces antennas and telemetry systems, ground-based telemetry reception stations, as well as command radio line, space, missile and aviation-based equipment for the stationary monitoring of the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere, and measuring, reception and controlling radio engineering and optoelectronic test complexes for missile and aviation technology.

The Instrument Engineering State Research Institute produces drones and a wide range of different instruments and on-board systems for space craft and aircraft.

The Kometa Special Purpose Space Systems Corporation manufactures computer systems, automated control systems, spacecraft payloads, television systems, automatic aids, radio measuring equipment, ornamental castings and remote surveillance systems.

Morinsis-Agat JSC manufactures radio navigation equipment and electrical products, and the Research Institute of Precision Instruments manufactures products for the radio control of spacecraft.

AP Voskhod JSC manufactures aviation aerometric equipment, precision and working pressure meters and aerometric, radio electronic and navigation equipment for aviation and space technology.