Russian ‘Starlink Rival’ established with 16 satellites launched, aims for 900 by 2035 — commercial operation to begin next year with 250 sputniks
State-funded Rassvet internet constellation aims for 900 LEO satellites by 2035.
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Russia has at last begun to deliver on its plans to establish a domestic state-funded rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink, reports The Moscow Times. The launch of the first 16 satellites, said to form the foundation of a constellation of 900 by 2035, was supposed to have happened in Q4 last year. The so-called Rassvet system aims to expand to 250 LEO satellites next year, when it will become a domestic commercial alternative to Starlink.
Something was launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome less than an hour ago pic.twitter.com/hqAMMRfjMyMarch 23, 2026
A private aerospace outfit called Bureau 1440 appears to be the key tech partner of the government for this state venture. Scientists/engineers from this company are set to complete system checks on the newly launched 16 orbiters. When checks are finished, they will be moved into their target orbit positions.
So, 16 out of 900 might sound like a drop in the ocean of space, but this first step was probably one of the most difficult. Alexei Shelobkov, CEO of Bureau 1440’s parent company, ICS Holding, said that Rassvet’s deployment is going to see dozens more launches. A quick prod of the calculator suggests that just 15 more launches (with batches of 16 satellites) will be required to hit the 250 constellation target for sometime in 2027.
Article continues belowDid Starlink's new whitelist-only policy accelerate the rollout of Rassvet?
The Russian government has reportedly set aside the equivalent of $1.26b to help develop Rassvet. If you think it is good to see the Russian state investing in non-military infrastructure, remember that it coincidentally lost Starlink access only last month. That’s when SpaceX implemented its new whitelist-only policy to replace the previously ineffectual measures that were in place. Surely that would have put pressure on Rassvet development teams to get on with it.
Clearly, Rassvet, even at its fully fledged 900 satellite target, is going to be dwarfed by efforts from other countries, or groups of countries such as the EU. The U.S. is home to two of the biggest satellite internet firms: the aforementioned Starlink, with roughly 10,000 already in orbit, and a next-gen target beyond 30,000; plus Amazon Leo (the rebranded Project Kuiper) has over 200 satellites launched, but is targeting over 3,200.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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