Gonets (Russian Гонец, for Messenger) is a Russian civilian low Earth orbit communications satellite system. It consists of a number of satellites, derived from Strela military communications satellites. The first two satellites, which were used to test and validate the system, were launched by a Tsyklon-3 launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 13 July 1992, and were designated Gonets-D. The first operational satellites, designated Gonets-D1, were launched on 19 February 1996. After launch, the first three satellites were given military Kosmos designations, a practice which was not continued with the other satellites. Ten operational satellites and two demonstration spacecraft have been placed in orbit. A further three were lost in a launch failure on 27 December 2000. A new series of modernised Gonets satellites, Gonets-D1M, supplement and replace the satellites which are currently in orbit. A single first D1M satellite was launched by a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle on 21 December 2005. A second Gonets-D1M satellite was launched by a Rokot launch vehicle on 8 September 2010.

Operator

Gonets satellites are operated along with the third generation Luch satellites by Gonets Satellite System company. Gonets was originally a Roscosmos programme, but in 1996 it was privatised and operated by Gonets Satellite System, which was controlled by ISS Reshetnev. In 2017, Roscosmos acquired 80% of Gonets SatCom from ISS Reshetnev. The remaining 20% were held by Dauria Satcom. By 2018, Dauria Satcom sold the shares to Business-Sfera of Coalco group while Roscosmos sold 29% to other private investors. Gonets SatCom has become a Russian space industry company with the largest (49%) share of private capital.

User characteristics

, the Gonets orbit group comprises 25 second-generation spacecraft "Gonets-M" and 1 first-generation "Gonets-D1". The orbital group performs the task of direct communication with subscribers at any point of the globe. With such a number of spacecraft in the Gonets orbit group, the system provides communication with waiting time characteristics as indicated in the following table. The next 3 Gonets-M satellites will be launched in 2022 by an Angara-1.2 launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. Technical characteristics of subscriber terminals 0.3–0.4 GHz