Russia has announced the launch of 16 low-orbit satellites, signalling its ambition to create a competitor to Elon Musk's Starlink network. The aerospace firm Bureau 1440, which is developing a low-Earth-orbit system for global broadband data, confirmed it deployed its initial batch of operational satellites on Monday.
Despite this step, Russia remains significantly behind Starlink, which has amassed over 10,000 satellites in orbit since its first operational launch in 2019. Bureau 1440 stated: 'The launch of the first devices of the target group is a transition from experiment to the creation of a communication service.'
Local media report that the Russian government has earmarked 102.8 billion rubles ($1.26 billion) for the development of Rassvet. Bureau 1440 plans to invest an additional 329 billion rubles ($4 billion) of its own funds through 2030. The satellite internet constellation is intended to provide broadband internet access across Russia and serve as a domestic alternative to Starlink.
Historically, the Soviet Union was a pioneer in space exploration, achieving milestones such as Sputnik 1 in 1957 and sending Yuri Gagarin as the first human into orbit in 1961. However, Russia's space programme has since grappled with funding shortfalls, corruption, and management issues following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
According to Ashlee Vance's 2015 biography of Musk, Russian officials dismissed Musk in 2002 as not credible, spurring him to find a way to undercut Russia's space launch fees. Across March, mobile internet has been completely down every day in parts of central Moscow, St Petersburg and other major cities, according to reporters and diplomats.
Russia's online clampdown this year has been accompanied by new laws obliging mobile operators to cut off clients at the demand of the Federal Security Service and giving the agency powers to create a network of pre-trial detention centres. The broader aim is to help the Kremlin shore up domestic control in the context of the war against Ukraine, according to diplomats.
