Russia has launched a second batch of Rassvet satellites, which are intended to serve as the country’s alternative to Starlink. Around 40 satellites are currently in orbit, according to Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, an adviser to the President of Ukraine, who shared the information on July 21.
Beskrestnov noted that the newly launched satellites have not yet taken their designated positions within the orbital constellation, although they could do so relatively quickly.
He added that Russia would need to deploy at least several hundred satellites before the Rassvet network could be used effectively for military purposes.
For comparison, he pointed out that SpaceX currently operates more than 15,000 satellites, OneWeb has around 600–700, while Amazon Kuiper has approximately 400–500, with plans to expand its constellation to 4,000 satellites.
Last month, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that Russia was developing a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to control “heavy drones.” He was likely referring to the Rassvet communications system being developed by Bureau 1440.
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