Russia is launching its Starlink rival: How many satellites are already in orbit

When will the Russian Rassvet satellites become operational?

The second batch of Russian Rassvet satellites, which are supposed to become an analog of Starlink, has already been launched into orbit, according to the Ukrainian President's advisor on the development of defense technology, Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov.

"Russia launched the second batch of Rassvet satellites, which are supposed to become an analog of Starlink. There are currently up to 40 satellites in orbit," Flash said.

According to him, the enemy satellites have not yet taken their places in the orbital constellation. But this could happen soon.

Zelenskyy's advisor also explained that to start using the Rassvet constellation for military purposes, Russia will have to launch at least several hundred satellites.

Flash also added:

・SpaceX currently has more than 15,000;

・OneWeb has deployed around 600–700;

・Amazon Leo has 400–500 (and plans to launch up to 4,000).

Russian Rassvet satellite system — What we know

・The commercial launch of the service is planned for 2027;

・In the coming months, the system is expected to undergo testing;

・By 2030, Russia plans to deploy around 292–300 satellites for a full-scale constellation;

・taking into account replacements for satellites that will go out of service, a total of 383 satellites are planned to be launched as part of 24 rocket launches;

・According to other Russian plans, the constellation could eventually grow to around 900 satellites by 2035;

・Russia claims that Rassvet will provide speeds of up to 1 Gbps per user terminal with signal latency of up to 70 ms;

・The project is reportedly intended to provide broadband internet with global coverage;

・Western and Ukrainian experts warn that the system could have strategic and military significance, particularly for communications and command and control;

・The estimated cost of the project in a draft federal initiative passport reaches 445 billion rubles.

Earlier, Flash warned that Russians had started using Shahed drones in manual control mode more frequently.

Moreover, the enemy is creating smart drone swarms.