Russia and China are discussing the launch of a low-orbit group of satellites for providing internet services, reports Vedomosti citing Maksim Akimov, the deputy prime-minister. Akimov did not provide further details.
Nevertheless, two top managers of companies in the space segment said that the governments of both states are in talks on the Russian company Satellite System Gonets, a subsidiary of the national operator Rostelecom, and the China space science and industry corporation Casic cooperating.
Gonets runs a group of satellites responsible for the telecommunications system Luch, serving rockets from the space corporation Roscosmos. Gonets entered a joint project with OneWeb, holding a 40 percent stake in the joint venture. This joint venture was expected get an exclusive right for providing satellite internet services in Russia. Nevertheless, Russian security service FSB objected to the deployment of terrestrial stations which were necessary for the operation of the OneWeb network in Russia.
Source: https://www.telecompaper.com/news/russia-china-in-talks-on-satellite-internet-project--1308982