Russia’s Rassvet Takes on Starlink in Satellite Race

In late March, Russian company Bureau 1440 successfully launched the first 16 broadband internet satellites for its new Rassvet constellation, a project widely described by local media and observers as Moscow’s direct answer to SpaceX’s Starlink. The launch, which took place at 8:24 pm Moscow time on March 23 from the military-run Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Soyuz-2.1B rocket, marks the initial phase of an ambitious global internet network that experts believe conceals broader strategic objectives, including military applications and communications control.

The Rassvet system aims to eventually include at least 300 satellites by 2030, transitioning from experimental testing to a fully operational service. “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 project’s stated goal is to deliver broadband internet with speeds up to 1 gigabit per second per user terminal and signal latency as low as 70 milliseconds.

Comparisons to Starlink are inevitable, especially given the latter’s proven battlefield utility in Ukraine, where it became a vital tool for troop communications. Reports indicate that Kiev successfully disrupted communications for some Russian units by restricting unauthorized Starlink terminals. In this context, Rassvet appears to be a strategic effort to build a sovereign satellite infrastructure capable of serving both civilian and military users.

The dual-use nature of Rassvet is evident from operational details. The launch was conducted not by the Roscosmos space agency but by the Russian Defense Ministry via Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Days after the launch, President Vladimir Putin called it “a great event,” while Roscosmos director Dmitry Bakanov claimed the Cosmodrome faced “attempted attacks” on launch day.

“Like all satellites intended for communications, they are also capable of military functions, and given the high effectiveness of Starlink’s use on the battlefield, Rassvet will also find use there,” says Vitalij Egorov, a space expert and host of the YouTube channel Otkrytyj Kosmos Zelenogo Kota. He notes that Rassvet terminals are several times larger and heavier than Starlink’s, which could limit network flexibility. “Still, the fact that Rassvet’s ‘private satellites’ were launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome shows the great interest the Russian Defense Ministry has in the success of this project. The Russian Ministry of Communications is also allocating funds for the project, which means that the state is directly participating in the Rassvet project.”

Independent Russian media report funding of 100 billion rubles (about $1.34 billion) from the Ministry of Communications, with Bureau 1440 reportedly prepared to invest an additional 300 billion rubles.

“Rassvet satellites are similar to those of Starlink,” Egorov explains. “They are a constellation of satellites for internet transmission, but it would be more accurate to compare them more to the OneWeb system than to Starlink, because Rassvet is intended for commercial companies, state-owned companies, and government customers. In addition, Rassvet plans to reach about 350 satellites by 2030, while Starlink already has thousands.”

The true challenge for Bureau 1440, Egorov argues, is not simply launching the first satellites but industrializing production on a massive scale. To achieve a constellation of roughly 300 satellites within a few years, the company would need to manufacture one or two satellites per week , a pace the Russian space industry has never matched. So far, only Starlink and OneWeb have demonstrated the ability to sustain such serial production.