The Russian company "Bureau 1440," which is creating the low-orbit satellite constellation "Rassvet" as an analogue of Starlink, said it was ahead of schedule amid reports of problems with the launched spacecraft. The Moscow Times reports this, writes UNN.
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Oleksii Shelobkov, head of "X Holding," said that all technological risks of the project remained "manageable and predictable." According to him, the company had already moved to internal testing and user trials in August, although this stage was initially planned for September.
The statement came after reports of problems with the "Rassvet" satellites. According to the Institute for the Study of War, none of the 16 spacecraft launched on July 19 managed to reach the planned altitude of 870 km. Many satellites remained at an altitude of 300–400 km, the orbits of some continue to decline, and at least 2 are approaching reentry into Earth's atmosphere.
Only 37.5% of the satellites reached their operational altitude
Problems also arose with the first batch, which was launched in March. By the end of August, only 12 of the 16 satellites had reached an altitude of 550 km and remained there. According to the ISW's assessment, only 37.5% of the launched "Rassvet" spacecraft had reached a stable operational altitude overall.
At the same time, Shelobkov said that key users had already been given the opportunity to test the service. According to him, the first "Rassvet" terminal was installed on rolling stock belonging to Russian Railways, and its testing is expected to begin shortly.
Russia is developing "Rassvet" as its own alternative to Starlink. The ISW believes that problems with the second batch of satellites may indicate Russia's lack of readiness to deploy the constellation at the planned pace and could lead to additional delays.