Russian aerospace company BUREAU 1440 has launched 16 broadband internet satellites into space. This is the first stage of deploying a constellation in low Earth orbit, which in Russia is called an analogue of SpaceX’s Starlink.
Russian aerospace company BUREAU 1440 has launched 16 broadband internet satellites into space. This is the first stage of deploying a constellation in low Earth orbit, which in Russia is called an analogue of SpaceX’s Starlink.
«The launch of the first satellites in the target satellite group marks the transition from experiments to the creation of a communications service,» the Russians said.
Bloomberg reports that the launch is part of a larger Russian project called Rassvet (Dawn), which is planned to expand over the next few years. Russia is seeking to build its own satellite internet network that will replicate the functionality of the American Starlink project.
BUREAU 1440 claims that 1,000 days have passed since the first experimental launch to the deployment of a group of satellites. «Dozens of launches and hundreds of satellites are ahead,» the report says.
In January, the head of the Russian state corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, said that in 2027, the Russian Federation plans to create a network of more than 300 satellites in orbit to provide Internet services in remote areas.
Previously, the blocking of smuggled Starlinks in Ukraine has already slowed down the transfer of intelligence information to the occupiers' positions. The lack of stable access to Telegram further complicates the situation and causes delays in the transmission of messages.
Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov spoke about the results of blocking the Starlink satellite internet for the Russian army and the fight against its mesh networks. According to him, the occupiers were effectively deprived of communication — the number of their streams from the front line decreased by 11 times, and the interception of radio broadcasts increased significantly.
