The Intersputnik System

A session of the council of Intersputnik was held in Karl-Marx-Stadt, German Democratic Republic (East Germany), in September 1984. It was attended by delegations from all of the 14 member countries as well as observers from Algeria, India, Iraq, Syria, France and Yugoslavia. The People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was granted membership in Intersputnik at this meeting. Use of a satellite in the area of the Indian Ocean (presum­ ably at the new Statsionar 13 location at 80°E) to make it possible for a number of new countries to join the system was discussed and participants considered questions of establishing ground radio sta­tions in Angola, the Yemen, Libya and Nicaragua, and the con­struction of a second ground radio station in Vietnam. 11

In October 1984, Radio Moscow broadcast, in English, the text of a statement by Kurilov, the Director-General of Intersputnik, in which he disclosed that negotiations were under way with Asahi (Japan) for joint use of an Intersputnik satellite in 1985. Perma­ nent membership in the organization was not obligatory for the use of the facilities of the system. In reply to a question, he denied that there were any limits to the transmission of information through Intersputnik channels and went on to claim that, compared with Intelsat, in which he claimed American companies held the con­trolling shares, financial and technological problems were "tackled more democratically" and that the procedure for obtaining a chan­ nel was much simpler. "The cost of transmissions is more reasona­ ble too and the quality of transmitting information, according to experts, is no worse. Finally, unlike Intelsat, we do not forbid our members to join other organizations of the same type." He stated that it was not the purpose of Intersputnik to compete with Intelsat and that it had broken the monopoly of space communica­ tions in the world. As an example he cited the fact that the private American CNN telecast the Druzhba '84 international games. 12

A report from Prague, Czechoslovakia, claimed that "some 60 percent of all TV transmissions in 1983 among the socialist coun­ tries were relayed by Intersputnik channels" and that the satellites "played a major role in news exchange by ten members of the In- tervision network." 13

A contract was signed in Moscow on December 8, 1984, for the Soviet Union to provide Syria with equipment and spares for an In­ tersputnik ground station as well as expertise during the installa­ tion period. 14

The 14th meeting of the council of Intersputnik was held in Bu­ charest, Romania, in September 1985. Development of "promising new sets of equipment for ground stations" was outlined. 15

At the 15th session of the council, held in Budapest, Hungary, from 14th to 18th October, 1986, it was noted that ground stations in the Yemen and Nicaragua had become operational and that other ground stations were being modernized. Construction of new ground stations in Syria, Kampuchea, North Korea, Libya and Czechoslovakia was discussed. 1 6

The document on Nicaragua's accession to the agreement estab­ lishing Intersputnik was handed to the government of the Soviet Union "for safe keeping" on September 21, 1987. 17

The 16th session of the Intersputnik Council opened in Warsaw, Poland, on September 28, 1987. It was reported that Japan wanted to take advantage of satellite links with Europe and was very in­terested in Intersputnik. It was decided to build, in the near future, ground stations in Syria, Libya, Algeria, Vietnam and Kampuchea. Radio and relay communications satellites would be placed over the Atlantic, after 1990, considerably increasing present transmis­sion capabilities and offering transmission of digital radio and TV programs and telephone links to remote parts of the world. It was stated that Intersputnik makes a profit and, as an example, it was revealed that Poland makes about one million dollars annually for communications services between Spain and South America. 18 A decision was also taken to assist Angola with the establishment of television stations throughout the country. 1 9

References:

A . SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS: 1981-87, SPACE SCIENCE, SPACE APPLICATIONS, MILITARY SPACE PROGRAMS, ADMINISTRATION, RESOURCE BURDEN, AND MASTER LOG OF SPACEFLIGHTS, Part 2, April 1989, Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C. 1989, Committee print 1981-87- part-2

11 TASS, 1830 GMT, Sept. 24, 1984.

12. Moscow World Service, 1510 GMT, Oct. 18, 1984.

13. CTK, Prague, 1331 GMT, Nov. 10, 1984.

14. SANA, 1250 GMT, Dec. 8, 1984.

15. Izvestiya, Sept. 29, 1985.

16 TASS, 1025 GMT, Oct. 19, 1986.
17. TASS, 1605 GMT, Sept. 22, 1987.
18. PAP, 2134 GMT, Oct. 2, 1987.

19. The Namibian, Windhoek, Oct. 23, 1987.