Russian cosmonauts aboard the International space station tested independent of the United States high-speed information exchange system with the Ground, said cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov.
He returned from the ISS in February on a manned ship, "Union MS-13" together with the Italian Luca Parmitano and American Christina cook.
"On the Russian segment had a broadband communication system. And I had a chance to try it out: the picture looks amazing, like a good digital TV, and voice latency is very small," – quoted Skvortsova in the materials posted on the website, "Roskosmos".
"Now we will have a data channel, it is possible to transfer large batches of telemetry data, regardless of our American colleagues," he added.
Currently to transfer large amounts of information from the station to the Ground and back are used in most U.S. relay satellites TDRS for a fee.
In November 2019, the first Deputy General Director of the company "Messenger" Oleg Khimochko told RIA Novosti that the equipment to provide broadband communications of the Russian segment of the ISS with Earth via relay satellites "Beam-5" delivered to the station and the regular functioning of the canal will begin in 2020. According to him, speed in the channel can reach up to 105 megabits per second.
At present the orbital grouping of satellites repeaters "Beam" consists of three spacecraft – "Luch-5A", "Luch-5B" and "Luch-5V", placed in space in 2011-2014. In 2024 it is planned to launch a satellite "Ray-5ВМ".
