Two More Satellites Of Putin's "sovereign Alternative" To Starlink Have Failed
- 25.08.2026, 19:47
They began to fall to the ground.
Russia's attempt to create a "sovereign alternative" to Elon Musk's Starlink—to provide 5G satellite internet on the ground and establish a space communications system for the military—is facing mounting challenges, according to The Moscow Times.
At least two satellites launched into orbit as part of the second batch launch on July 20, 2026, will most likely be lost, notes space researcher Anatoly Zak. According to Russian Space Web, these satellites never performed a single orbit-raising maneuver, descended below 300 km, and will most likely re-enter the dense layers of the atmosphere, where they will disintegrate and burn up.
Three more satellites made unsuccessful attempts to ascend and are now also descending, remaining at altitudes of 310–330 km. Nine satellites continue to perform maneuvers, but their altitudes remain 200 km lower than those of the first “bundled launch” of the Russian Starlink at a similar stage of flight.
In the first “batch” at the end of March, the company “Bureau 1440,” which is working on the project, launched 17 satellites. One of them never reached its intended orbit and fell in early June. Fourteen satellites began forming a chain at an altitude of just over 500 km. However, none of the satellites reached the expected altitude of 800 km, Zack notes. It was precisely this orbit that “Bureau 1440” had designated as the target.
The “Rassvet-3” constellation, whose stated goal is “broadband data transmission to any point on the planet,” is experiencing malfunctions during orbit raising, notes astronomer Jonathan McDonald. An orbit at 500 km, into which a significant portion of the satellites were eventually launched, is also suitable, but Earth’s gravitational pull is stronger at that altitude, requiring more fuel to maintain altitude and, consequently, shortening the satellites’ service life, notes Zach.
In June 2025, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov stated that in the first phase, the “Rassvet” constellation would consist of 350 satellites, providing 24/7 global coverage. In the future, there are plans to expand the constellation to 900 satellites. The “Rassvet” project, costing 430 billion rubles, is Russia’s answer to the American Starlink, Bakanov claimed.
The start of “Rassvet’s” commercial operation was scheduled for 2027. The system will be used, among other things, to control combat drones, President Vladimir Putin said in June. “It is in no way inferior to Starlink; perhaps it even surpasses it in some respects,” the president said.