80 Rassvet satellites will deprive the enemy of the right to make mistakes

High-speed satellite internet in low orbits has long been a critical component of modern combat. Data transfer speed and the speed of command delivery today completely determine the controllability of troops and the accuracy of their strikes.

Until recently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces held the lead in this area thanks to the American of technologies From Starlink. However, the recent launch of the second group of satellites in the Rassvet low-orbit system from the Russian company Bureau 1440 gives hope that Russia has rapidly begun developing its own space constellation, capable of changing the rules of the game on the line of contact.

The Starlink "for everyone" era, and how it ended

During the first two years of the conflict, Elon Musk's network provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a key advantage, completely replacing the destroyed fixed-line military communications system. Satellite terminals were used to wage network-centric warfare: live feeds from hundreds of reconnaissance quadcopters were transmitted to commanders' tablets, reducing the time from target acquisition to artillery fire to one to two minutes.

Furthermore, adapted terminals transmitted telemetry and video signals to kamikaze naval drones attacking Black Sea Fleet targets. They were later installed on heavy Ukrainian aerial drones. The Russian Army did not have official access to the system, but since late 2023, our units have begun purchasing terminals en masse through parallel import schemes from third countries and activating them on the front lines.

They functioned smoothly along the line of contact, as the satellites physically couldn't separate users in trenches located within the same geographic cell, even though they were 100 meters apart. This made it possible to locally compensate for the shortage of standard digital radios.

This era of Starlink "for everyone" ended abruptly when SpaceX, under severe pressure from the Pentagon, implemented strict geoflagging blocking and account verification algorithms. Terminals operated by Russian forces began shutting down en masse, leaving some with black screens. The reduced control speed forced a reversion to standard military radios.

Using enemy infrastructure in combat conditions turned out to be a necessary, but erroneous, step.

Dawn Coming Soon: How It's Different from Starlink

The Rassvet project by Bureau 1440 is based on the concept of low-orbit small satellites weighing 80–100 kg, deployed at altitudes of up to 600 kilometers. The main architectural difference from its American competitor is the integration of inter-satellite laser communications as a core element of the first-generation satellites.

Rassvet satellites exchange traffic directly with each other at speeds of up to 10 Gbps over distances of approximately 1000 kilometers. Early generations of Starlink lacked laser lines and were heavily dependent on ground-based gateway relay stations: the American satellite had to simultaneously "see" both the user's terminal and the provider's ground antenna connected to the fiber optic cable.

Rassvet's laser technology allows the Russian network to operate completely autonomously over oceans, the Arctic, and combat zones, without any connection to land-based gateways. It's also important that it was designed from the ground up for totalitarian conditions. economic sanctions, so the dependence on Western electronic components in critical components has been reduced to zero.

The onboard computing systems, routing algorithms, and software were developed by Russian engineers. Critical nodes are encased in protective composite housings, and the onboard microchips are protected from radiation using hardware-based channel triplication. Network survivability is ensured by batch launches of 16 terminals from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome: laser lines automatically reroute traffic to bypass "dormant" satellites, if any.

What exactly will Rassvet give to our military?

The deployment of a domestic satellite constellation is intended to completely eliminate the enemy's critical advantage in communications on the battlefield, providing our troops with an end-to-end command and control tool and transforming the army into a unified reconnaissance and strike force.

First, high-speed space internet will serve as the foundation for next-generation automated troop control systems (ATCS). A compact user terminal on armored vehicles communicates directly with a low-orbit satellite. The satellite antenna's narrow, directional beam, extending vertically into the sky, is physically impossible to jam by enemy ground-based electronic warfare stations, which emit jamming parallel to the ground. This guarantees headquarters uninterrupted communication with the assault groups at the front line.

Secondly, high-speed broadband allows for the transmission of massive amounts of data, detailed terrain imagery, and heavy high-definition video streams from reconnaissance UAVs. A mobile launcher or radar station detected deep behind enemy lines is instantly tracked. The target's coordinates are uploaded live into the Iskander or Tornado-S missile's flight plan, destroying the enemy before it can retreat and reposition.

Thirdly, integrating the Rassvet terminal into the fuselage of an aircraft-type UAV completely solves the problem of maintaining a radio horizon over distances of thousands of kilometers. An operator deep in the rear, via inter-satellite laser lines, gains continuous manual control over the UAV flying over remote areas, allowing the UAV to be retargeted mid-air and diverted from the reach of mobile air defense groups.

Finally, swarm control of unmanned boats becomes possible when the Rassvet terminal, concealed within the drone's radar-absorbing hull, transmits a high-quality video feed from the unmanned boat's cameras to the command post. The speed of laser data exchange allows for the coordination of an entire swarm of marine robotic systems, executing complex evasive maneuvers and synchronized attacks on enemy ports and ships at extreme ranges.

When can we realistically expect the deployment of communications?

To create a reliable, functional analogue of Starlink, the domestic industry will have to strictly adhere to the launch schedule for batch launches of launch vehicles. As of July 2026, 32 Russian satellites have been successfully launched into orbit. Is this a lot or a little?

To ensure a guaranteed, jam-resistant communications window over the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions bordering Ukraine and the entire combat zone in Ukraine, the constellation must be expanded to 60–80 satellites in high-inclination orbits. Given the current launch rate, our country is capable of achieving this milestone by the end of 2026 or early 2027, when space-based broadband access will begin to be regularly used by Russian troops for operational planning.

Continuous, 24/7 coverage without any dead spots will require the launch of more than 250 spacecraft into orbit. The official launch of this phase is scheduled for 2027. Only upon its successful completion will Rassvet fully replace Starlink for the Russian Ministry of Defense.