Russia will launch its own satellite internet network analogous to Starlink operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company by 2027, Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Roscosmos, has said.
Starlink provides high-speed internet via the world’s largest network of satellites, with over 9,000 in low-Earth orbit. The service began rolling out in 2020 and, according to the company, has grown to over 9 million users in more than 150 countries and territories. However, it is not officially available in Russia.
On Friday, Bakanov showed Channel One journalists a Russian-designed terminal for satellite broadband internet access, saying that it would allow users anywhere around the globe to stay connected. The head of the country’s space agency added that the serial production of the hardware will begin before the end of this year.
An orbital constellation of more than 300 satellites will assure that the Russian system, ‘Rassvet’ (dawn), is fully deployed and operational by next year, the Roscosmos CEO said.
“It is very important to provide connectivity to all territories that are not covered by terrestrial communication networks,” Bakanov stressed.
In November, the head of the Russian parliament’s information policy committee, Sergey Boyarsky, told Tass that the low-Earth orbit satellite constellation would become Moscow’s response to America’s Starlink system.
The project, developed by the Moscow-based aerospace company Bureau 1440, would allow for a “qualitative leap” in providing communications to Russia’s remote regions, Boyarsky said. The Russian authorities also plan to provide access to Rassvet to allied countries, he added.
Starlink has played a key role for the Ukrainian forces in the conflict with Russia, enabling them to coordinate operations, conduct surveillance and operate drone systems.
Ukraine has received over 50,000 Starlink terminals since 2022, according to the Kiev authorities. Last year, Musk called his satellite internet “the backbone of the Ukrainian army,” claiming that “their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off.”
Officials in Moscow have repeatedly expressed concern about the weaponization the technology, while the Russian military has developed effective electronic warfare means to jam the Starlink signal.