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Russia Launches 32 Rassvet Satellites but System Remains Inefficient, Ukraine’s HUR Says
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Russia has placed 32 Rassvet satellites into orbit, but the system remains inefficient and lacks enough satellites to provide stable communications, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) chief Oleh Ivashchenko said in an interview with Ukrinform on September 7.
Ivashchenko said Russia is continuing efforts to expand its satellite capabilities, but the current constellation remains limited in both size and effectiveness.
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“We know that today the Russians are trying to put satellites into orbit. But so far, there are not enough of them, and their effectiveness is low. We are aware of this problem… To date, the Russian Federation has launched 32 satellites. We will not go into details about which orbits they are in, how frequently they operate, or which regions of Ukraine they cover,” Ivashchenko said.
The HUR chief noted that Russia’s satellite network remains significantly smaller than Starlink. More than 12,000 Starlink satellites are currently in orbit, he said, while Elon Musk’s company continues to expand the constellation by approximately 200 satellites each month.
The difference in scale leaves Russia’s Rassvet system unable to provide the same level of stable satellite communications, according to Ivashchenko.
“We are working on this. Russia’s ‘Rassvet ’ must turn into a ‘zakat ,’” Ivashchenko added.
Russia has been developing Rassvet as a domestic alternative to Starlink, allocating 102.8 billion rubles, approximately $1.3 billion, in state funding to the program. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in 2027, with plans to expand the constellation from 250 satellites to 900 by 2035.
Following the introduction of restrictions by Ukraine and SpaceX in February 2026 that disabled unauthorized Starlink terminals used by Russian forces, Rassvet is expected to serve a similar communications function, potentially including military applications.
If deployed on a large scale, the satellite network could provide Russia with more resilient command-and-control capabilities for drones, enabling operators to maintain communications and potentially redirect unmanned systems beyond the reach of conventional radio links.
However, the project has encountered significant technical and logistical challenges. Satellites already deployed in orbit have been losing altitude, while newly launched spacecraft have struggled to reach their intended positions.
Deploying the planned constellation would also require at least 18 Soyuz-2.1b rocket launches, while Russia currently conducts only six to eight such launches annually.
The technical difficulties have already resulted in satellite losses. Defense Express reported on August 25 that one Rassvet-3 communications satellite had been lost, while two others were potentially at risk of reentering Earth’s atmosphere.
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