Russia has launched its first tranche of low Earth orbit (LEO) communication satellites, which it hopes could compete with the likes of Starlink and OneWeb.

On March 23rd at 8:24 PM, Russia launched the first 16 satellites of its homegrown LEO broadband satellite constellation Rassvet (рассвет, “daybreak” in Russian), designed by Byuro-1440, or Bureau-1440 (a subsidiary of IKS Holding).

The machines were launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome’s Site 43 aboard a Soyuz 2.1b.

“On July 1, 2023, we conducted our first communication session with the first three satellites developed by Bureau 1440 for the Rassvet-1 mission and saw our ‘space Internet,’” Bureau 1440 said in a statement. “The data transfer rate to the device at that time was 10 Mbps, and the latency was 41 ms.”

The launch was supposedly intended to take place in Q4 2025, with the aim of expanding to a 250-strong constellation by next year.

Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Bakanov specified that Rassvet was intended to equip Russia, and eventually its allies, with alternatives to Western satellite networks like Starlink. A goal which the European Union seems to share, hoping to achieve it through the IRIS² initiative, as does China with Gwowang.

The constellation’s current satellite generation, the 370kg Rassvet-3, built by Bureau-1440, features optical intersatellite links, designed to enable 1Gbps speeds, but is not thought to match the hardware of industry-standard NewSpace LEO satellites in the West.

The Russian satellite Internet service is expected to begin operation in 2027 once its minimum fleet of 250 is established. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Bakanov has told Russian newspaper Kommersant that Rassvet’s next stage involves “dozens more launches.” Only 15 additional launches are required, so long as 16 satellites are launched apiece.

The Russian government has allocated 102.8 billion rubles ($1.36 billion) for the project as part of the national Data Economy Initiative. Bureau 1440 plans to contribute an additional $4.36 billion from its own funds by 2030.

15 rideshare launches in a year, carrying five tons of satellites each with a medium-lift rocket like Soyuz 2.1b will be quite a challenge, and would rival any of the West’s leading launch companies. Amazon Leo recently appealed to the FCC after it became clear the company would be unable to deploy its first tranches of satellites, a milestone it had years to plan for.

After entering operation, Bureau-1440 hopes to offer persistent coverage over Russia by 2035, by which time it expects to have orbited 900 satellites.

News media, such as The Moscow Times and Ukrainian state news group United24, have been keen to define Rassvet as competition for Starlink, though the economic challenge posed by a state constellation of 900 satellites – if indeed it reaches that number – that has only begun launching in 2026, is likely out of the question.

Starlink founder Elon Musk began his rocketry career by reportedly attempting to purchase old Soviet ICBM missiles in 2001. Allegedly, after being encouraged to drink great amounts of vodka across multiple meetings, many of which required extortionate bribes, the Russians only quoted him disproportionate prices, raising them every time Musk agreed, before taunting the now multi-billionaire, calling him a little boy. According to Adeo Ressi, part of his team at the time, Musk passed out drunk at at least one of these meetings.

Musk has leapt at opportunities to rail against the capabilities of the Soyuz family of rockets on several occasions since. Musk’s father, Errol Musk, speaking of Elon’s adventures pleading with the Russians for their missiles, said they “thought he was joking.”