Geoscan Automates Satellite Tracking Through Its SONIKS Portal
Users can now track spacecraft launches.
Russia’s space industry is advancing on several fronts. Efforts are focused not only on increasing the number of satellites in orbit but also on improving the software used to operate spacecraft and collect data.
More Automation
Geoscan Group recently announced an update to its SONIKS platform. Essentially, the portal enables users to track spacecraft. Its Russian name, Set’ Otkrytykh Nazemnykh Issledovatel’skikh Kompleksov Stantsiy, translates as “Network of Open Ground-Based Research Station Complexes.” The project brings together ground equipment, station software and a unified portal where users can schedule observations and access the results.
The update expands the platform’s capabilities for handling launch data. Users can now track launches, add new satellites to the system in advance based on prelaunch data, and update information about their orbits.
“Once a launch is successful, a spacecraft automatically receives ‘in orbit’ status, and observations are scheduled without operator intervention. The network can receive signals during the first few orbits, before precise orbital data are available, and records the first signal received from each spacecraft,” the company said.
Making Satellite Tracking Easier
An atmospheric model that accounts for solar and geomagnetic activity makes observation planning significantly easier. It helps track changes in orbital altitude, identify potential close approaches between satellites and other objects, and predict when spacecraft will reenter the atmosphere.
The developers have also introduced an “orbital sandbox” for safely modeling spacecraft trajectories and movement parameters. Ground station operators can now control their equipment directly through the portal. Users can also transmit settings and commands, access information about station equipment and its operating modes, and select which version of the client software to use.
Organizations that operate their own spacecraft and schedule communication sessions can connect their mission control centers to the portal’s network. Data received by ground stations are accessible through an open application programming interface (API). Users can also subscribe to telemetry frames from their own satellites and receive them in real time.
Training the Next Generation
SONIKS is a notable example of an industry platform where software serves as the link between physical equipment and its users. The portal is designed for a broad audience, including school students, university students and amateur radio enthusiasts. Its educational role helps prepare the next generation of space professionals. It is also a practical tool for people already working in the industry.
The SONIKS project launched in 2023, when Geoscan joined forces with the nonprofit Space Education Development organization. The partners began building an open network of ground stations to receive data from spacecraft. One of the project’s goals was to support educational satellites in the Space-π program.
By the end of its first year, the network included 85 stations, 50 of which were used regularly. Project participants completed more than 217,000 successful observations and received approximately 7.8 million data packets.
International Expansion
SONIKS has since expanded beyond Russia. In 2025, the project connected its first ground station at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on China’s Hainan Island. In 2026, another station was connected at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, where it is used by a joint laboratory involving Russian and Indian universities.
In other words, in three years the platform has evolved from an educational initiative into a distributed network with international connections and more advanced automation tools. Closer integration with mission control centers and satellite operators’ external information systems is a likely next step. That could allow the network to become more than a data reception service, making it part of the day-to-day infrastructure used to operate small spacecraft.
