Since the start of the Ukraine War in February 2022, Russia has been suffering from a handicap, its lack of access to a Starlink-like system.
This handicap had significant consequences in the war, as it provided Ukraine with many battlefield advantages, such as low-latency, jam-resistant command-and-control (C2) connectivity, real-time coordination between units, and uninterrupted drone operations, even under intense Russian electronic warfare (EW).
These battlefield advantages meant that Ukraine enjoyed secure, jamming and intercept-free communication with command centres and between various frontline units, and better, faster, beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) video-streaming for drone operators, making Ukraine’s first-person-view (FPV) drones a lethal killing machine.
More worryingly, this was a handicap that even China could not help Russia overcome.
Over the last four years, Russia employed various ways to blunt Ukraine’s battlefield edge on account of access to Starlink.
It smuggled Starlink terminals from third countries to establish unauthorized access to Starlink.
However, last month, SpaceX cut off Russian forces’ unauthorized access to Starlink in Ukraine by implementing a strict verification and “whitelist” system at the direct request of Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
All terminals in Ukraine were temporarily switched off. Afterwards, Ukrainian users had to register their devices via the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s DELTA platform. The whitelist is updated every 24 hours.
The Starlink cut-off had devastating consequences for the Russian forces.
Suddenly, Russian units “went dark.” Soldiers reported losing contact with command and each other, and drone operations were severely degraded.
“All we’ve got left now,” one Russian soldier said, “are radios, cables, and pigeons.”
Ukrainian commanders reported a noticeable drop in Russian attacks in multiple sectors. Some Russian units were described as “blind kittens” by Ukrainian drone operators.
Within days, Ukrainian forces gained battlefield momentum after nearly two years.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Italy’s Corriere Della Sera in early March that Ukrainian forces have recaptured 460 square kilometers of territory since the beginning of 2026, its biggest gains in years.
Russia understood that it needed some quick solutions.
Thankfully for the country, Moscow had been working on a Starlink alternative for at least three years, almost since the beginning of the conflict, when Starlink’s battlefield advantages became apparent to everyone.
Even when Russia was smuggling Starlink terminals, it understood that, at best, this could only be a temporary solution, and for long-term parity with the US, it needed to develop its own Starlink alternative.
On March 24, Russia undertook the first step in that direction, launching the first batch of low-orbit satellites that will eventually make up a vast satellite internet constellation under a project meant to rival SpaceX’s Starlink.
Rassvet: Russia’s own Starlink Network
The Russian company ‘Bureau 1440’ launched the first 16 satellites of the low-Earth-orbit cluster Rassvet, which is considered a Russian alternative to the Starlink system.
Bureau 1440 is a Russian aerospace firm developing a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite system for global broadband data delivery.
However, just like Starlink, it will have major military applications as well.
After reaching their target orbit, the 16 spacecraft successfully separated from the Soyuz-2.1B launch vehicle and were transferred to the company’s Flight Control Center.
Once all systems on these 16 LEO satellites have been tested and activated, they will begin transitioning to operational orbits, according to a statement by Bureau 1440.
All satellites are equipped with 5G NTN-based communication, an upgraded power supply system, next-generation inter-satellite laser terminals, and plasma engines.
“The launch of the first satellites in the target constellation marks the transition from experiments to the creation of a communications service,” it said.
The company further stated that it completed the journey in just 1000 days, that is the time it took between the launch of the experimental satellites and the production models.
However, the launch has not been without difficulties and delays. These 16 production model LEO satellites were initially expected to be launched by late last year.
In September, Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov promised that by the end of 2025, the first 300 satellites would begin to be deployed into orbit as part of the Rassvet project.
At that time, it was speculated that the postponement of the launch of the first batch of satellites to 2026 may have been due to the required number of satellites not yet being assembled.
Instead of the targeted 300 by 2025-end, Russia has launched only 16 satellites by March 2026.
Now, according to new timelines, Russia wants to put at least 250 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2027.
Once the constellation has 350 satellites, expected to be achieved before 2027-end, the company will launch its commercial broadband services.
When fully activated, the company expects to provide low-latency, high-bandwidth internet services worldwide, directly competing with Starlink.
The Russian government has earmarked 102.8 billion rubles (US$1.26 billion) for the development of Rassvet. Bureau 1440 plans to invest an additional 329 billion rubles (US$4 billion) of its own funds through 2030.
By 2035, the Rassvet cluster could exceed 900 satellites.
However, it will still be behind Starlink by a significant distance.
Since the first satellite launch in 2019, Starlink has already launched more than 11,000 satellites in LEO, of which over 10,000 remain active.
SpaceX aims for a first-generation constellation of nearly 12,000 satellites. With the current rapid launch pace, the company is expected to approach or reach close to this number by the end of 2026.
SpaceX has filed plans for a much larger mega-constellation of up to 34,000 satellites to provide higher capacity and better global coverage.
However, Russia is not the only country working on a Starlink alternative.
China and Europe Also Developing Starlink Competitors
China has two major state-backed LEO broadband projects explicitly designed to rival Starlink: Guowang (also called ‘National Network’ or China SatNet) and Qianfan (Thousand Sails).
Guowang has more than 150 operational satellites and aims to launch 13,000 in LEO. The company expects to launch 900 satellites in 2027 and more than 3,600 annually from 2028.
Qianfan already has over 100 satellites in LEO and plans to launch 15,000 more. The company expects to launch global internet services soon and has already signed commercial agreements with Brazil and Thailand.
Similarly, Europe is developing competitors to Starlink, such as Eutelsat OneWeb, and IRIS (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite).
Eutelsat already has 600 satellites in orbit. However, it is putting satellites in the 1,200 km orbit, which is higher than Starlink’s 450-550 km orbit, resulting in slightly higher latency.
For the foreseeable future, Starlink is the only player in the truly global, high-bandwidth, low-latency LEO satellite internet market.
Even as many new players, such as Russia, China, and Europe, enter the market, Starlink will enjoy the first-mover advantage and remain the dominant player for many years to come due to the sheer number of satellites it has launched.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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- He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com
