North Pole internet in 2026 with skif satellites

This May 10, 2022 aerial view image shows telecommunication domes of Kongsberg Satellite Services on a mountain top near Longyearbyen, in the Svalbard Archipelago, which lies between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The Russian spacecraft Skif will allow people in the North Pole to access the internet in 2026, according to the TASS news agency.

The Sphere Congress said that the skif satellites of the Sphere project will provide internet access in the Arctic by the end of 2026.

There is practically no internet at the North Pole, according to the report. Americans can access the internet using American satellite phones, but access to the global network is slow and expensive.

In October 2022 Russia successfully launched a Skif-D satellite using the Soyuz 2.1 b launch vehicle into orbit.

In the future, eight skif satellites are expected to go into orbit to form a multi-satellite orbital constellation.