Intersputnik

The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, commonly known as Intersputnik, is an international satellite communications services organization founded on 15 November 1971, in Moscow by the Soviet Union along with a group of seven formerly socialist states (Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Mongolia) and Cuba. The objective was and continues to be the development and common use of communications satellites. It was created as the Eastern Bloc's response to the Western Intelsat organization. As of 2026, the organization has 25 member states. In turn with political realignments, a number of countries have left (Germany and Poland) or are in the process of leaving (Czechia, Bulgaria and Ukraine). Intersputnik nowadays is a commercially aligned organization. It operates 12 satellites in orbit and 41 transponders. In June 1997 Intersputnik created the Lockheed Martin Intersputnik (LMI) joint venture together with Lockheed Martin, which built and operated the satellites of the same name. In September 2006, Lockheed Martin Intersputnik was acquired by Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS).