Russia intends to launch a commercial version of its domestic answer to Starlink next year, according to people familiar with the program cited by Reuters.
Constellation is called Rassvet, the operator is a private aerospace firm called Bureau 1440, and its ambition is deliberately narrower than its rival American network.
Libra tells the story. SpaceX launched thousands of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Bureau 1440 plans to reach commercial service in the high hundreds of constellations in 2027, with 288 to 292 satellites listed for the first operational phase, and a longer-term goal of around 900 by the mid-2030s.
Moscow has conceptually described the goal as something like this for years Starlink More than a similar match and the numbers keep that promise honest.
The hardware is longer than the rhetoric alone suggests. In March, the company launched 16 operational satellites on March 23, following the launch of experimental ships in 2023 and 2024 as part of the Rassvet-1 and Rassvet-2 test programs.
The bureau described the 1,440 satellites as carrying 5G non-terrestrial network communications, laser intersatellite communications, an improved power system and plasma thrusters, standard kit 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 checked and production satellites had been replaced accordingly.
Transmission targets are also published. Bureau 1440 announced speeds per subscriber ranging from 50 megabits to one gigabit per second, with planned coverage in more than 70 countries.
These numbers are more claims than demonstrated performance, the difference between a constellation on a slide and a paid traffic carrier, and only a commercial release will put them to the test.
At least the money is put on paper. The Russian government has committed 102.8 billion rubles, about $1.26 billion, to Rassvet, and Bureau 1440 says it will add about 329 billion rubles, about $4 billion, by 2030.
The company has potential demand for 1.5-2 million subscribers in Russia, and around 12 million worldwide, and the coverage is planned to cover more than 70 countries.
2027 deserves a mention. The previous target was lost amid production shortages, the kind of detail that is repeated in constellation programs everywhere, not just in Russia.
Creating satellites is a challenge; building them fast enough is different and more difficult with the numbers required by a useful network. The 16 operational ships currently in orbit are the start of the number that must clear 250 before serving paying customers.
At the bottom of the trade is a strategic axis. A sovereign broadband network independent of a foreign operator is attractive to any government watching Starlink become a factor in the war in Ukraine.
Whether Rassvet fits the schedule and Bureau 1440’s ability to advertise is a question 2027 will answer. Horoscope, for now, is basically a plan with a starting cadence added.
