Russia has already launched 30 satellites this year for Rassvet, a low-Earth-orbit satellite internet constellation that it has billed as comparable to SpaceX’s Starlink, which is widely used by Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n
Rassvet’s deployment has faced setbacks<\/a>, including difficulties with launch and dependencies on foreign components, Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency said in a statement.<\/p>\n Two of the 30 Russian satellites launched this year have already “deorbited,” and while 26 have reached a stable position at an altitude of roughly 320 miles, none have reached the planned 500-mile altitude \u2014 though they are maneuvering toward it, the GUR said.<\/p>\n Russia plans to expand the constellation to up to 48 satellites by the end of the year and launch another 240 next year to cover 94% of Russian territory with speeds of up to 150 Mbps, the GUR said. Moscow plans to bring the constellation up to 408 satellites by 2031 and 924 by 2035.<\/p>\n The Rassvet satellites, each weighing little more than 600 pounds, rely on laser communication instead of ground stations to transfer data.<\/p>\n Russia uses the Soyuz-2.1b three-stage rocket to launch its satellites into orbit. Ukraine has attacked production facilities<\/a> that manufacture this family of rockets in an attempt to disrupt Moscow’s space industry.<\/p>\n Ukrainian forces are facing another round of Starlink service disruptions this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stringer\/REUTERS<\/p>\n Rassvet’s main control center is in Moscow, but the GUR said Russia plans to build a network of ground stations across the country.<\/p>\n Want more Business Insider in your news feed?<\/p>\n \n Add BI in Google so our reporting is easier to find when you\u2019re searching for what matters.\n <\/p>\n Neither Russia’s defense ministry nor its US embassy responded to a request for comment on the GUR’s assessment.<\/p>\n Rassvet is considered to be Russia’s alternative to Starlink, SpaceX’s commercial satellite internet service that has been crucial for Ukrainian battlefield operations<\/a>. Kyiv’s forces also use Starshield, the military-grade variant.<\/p>\n Russia was able to use Starlink in Ukraine until earlier this year, when Kyiv pressed SpaceX to disable its terminals<\/a>. Starlink became a particularly significant asset for Ukraine in the months that followed, supporting a mix of combat operations by providing reliable communications for its drones.<\/p>\n Last month, however, Ukraine was hit with\u00a0sudden restrictions on its Starshield services<\/a>. Its forces endured speed limits for more than a week that severely affected its front-line operations.<\/p>\n The shocking disruption came amid high tensions between Kyiv and Washington over Ukrainian strikes against Russian energy infrastructure<\/a>. Starlink services are available in Ukraine and Russian-occupied territory, but not inside Russia.<\/p>\n Ukraine appears to be in the middle of another Starlink outage. On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had once again detected speed limits of 100 miles per hour.<\/p>\n On Friday, Ukrainian defense ministry sources told Business Insider that these speed limits were being recorded across all Russian-occupied territory, but not on Ukrainian-controlled land. Zelenskyy said the disruption is affecting Kyiv’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones.<\/p>\n Ukraine’s defense ministry is in talks with SpaceX to resolve the issue and is seeking more information from the US Defense Department, the sources said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n