Russia readies smaller Starlink rival, 2027 deadline in flux

Russia is preparing to activate a commercial version of its homegrown Starlink competitor next year, according to sources familiar with the project cited by Reuters, marking the latest milestone in a program that has been in development for nearly a decade. The satellite constellation, named Rassvet, is operated by private aerospace firm Bureau 1440, and its scope is deliberately more modest than the U.S. network it aims to challenge.

The difference in scale is stark. SpaceX has deployed thousands of Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. Bureau 1440, by contrast, plans to begin commercial service in 2027 with a constellation in the high hundreds, targeting roughly 288 to 292 satellites for its first operational phase. A longer-term goal of around 900 units is projected for the mid-2030s.

For years, Moscow has framed the initiative as conceptually similar to Starlink rather than a direct replica, and the numbers align with that honest ambition. The hardware is further along than the rhetoric alone might imply. On 23 March, the company launched 16 operational satellites, following a series of experimental craft in 2023 and 2024 under the Rassvet-1 and Rassvet-2 test programs.

Bureau 1440 has described the satellites as equipped with 5G non-terrestrial-network communications, laser inter-satellite links, an upgraded power system, and plasma thrusters , the standard components for a modern broadband constellation. Dmitry Bakanov, head of the Roscosmos space agency, told Reuters last September that several test vehicles already in orbit had been inspected, and production satellites were modified accordingly.

Throughput targets have also been published. Bureau 1440 has advertised per-subscriber speeds ranging from 50 megabits to one gigabit per second, with planned coverage across more than 70 countries. These figures are claims rather than demonstrated performance, the critical distinction between a constellation on a slide and one carrying paying traffic. Only the commercial launch will test them.

Funding has been committed, at least on paper. The Russian government has earmarked 102.8 billion roubles (roughly $1.26 billion) for Rassvet, and Bureau 1440 has said it will add some 329 billion roubles (around $4 billion) of its own through 2030. The company has estimated potential demand at 1.5 to 2 million subscribers inside Russia and as many as 12 million worldwide, with coverage across more than 70 countries.

The 2027 deadline comes with a caveat. An earlier target slipped amid reported production shortfalls, a recurring challenge in constellation programs everywhere, not just in Russia. Building satellites is one problem; building them fast enough, in the numbers a useful network requires, is a different and harder one. The 16 operational craft now in orbit are a start on a figure that needs to clear 250 before paying customers can be served.

There is a strategic dimension beneath the commercial one. A sovereign broadband network that does not depend on a foreign operator is attractive to any government that has watched Starlink become a factor in the war in Ukraine. Whether Rassvet arrives on schedule, and at the throughput Bureau 1440 advertises, is the question 2027 will answer. For now, the constellation remains mostly a plan with a launch cadence attached.