Meet Rassvet, Russia's Answer to Starlink

"The launch took place on March 23 at 8:24 pm Moscow time from the military's Plesetsk Cosmodrome using the Soyuz-2.1B launcher, and marked the first step in building an infrastructure that is expected to have at least 300 satellites by 2030. "The launch marks the transition from the experimental phase to the creation of a communication service," Bureau 1440 announced on Telegram. "The Bureau 1440 team completed this path in 1,000 days, which is the time between the launch of the experimental satellites and the production satellites.""

"The goal of the project is to provide broadband internet access with speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second for each user terminal and a signal latency time of up to 70 milliseconds. The system has been repeatedly compared to Starlink, which in the war in Ukraine proved to be a vital tool for troop communications. Indeed, according to various reports, Kiev managed to disrupt the communications of some Russian units that relied on Starlink by imposing restrictions on unauthorized terminals."

"In this context, then, the Rassvet project appears to be an attempt to build a sovereign satellite infrastructure that can potentially be used by civilians and military personnel alike. The dual-use nature of the Rassvet project is also apparent from some operational details. The launch of the satellites was carried out not by the Roscosmos space agency but by the Russian Defense Ministry through the Plesetsk Cosmodrome."

Bureau 1440 placed the first 16 Rassvet broadband internet satellites into low Earth orbit on March 23 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome using a Soyuz-2.1B rocket. The launch marked a shift from experimental satellites to creation of a communication service, with production satellites planned to follow. The project aims to deliver up to 1 gigabit per second per user terminal and latency up to 70 milliseconds. The constellation is compared to Starlink, which has supported communications during the war in Ukraine. Reports indicate Ukraine disrupted some Russian units’ Starlink use by restricting unauthorized terminals. Rassvet’s dual-use characteristics are suggested by Defense Ministry involvement in launches and the potential for use by both civilians and military personnel.

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