“Rassvet” instead of Starlink: Russia significantly accelerated the launch of satellites — GUR

This was stated by the Deputy Head of the Military Development Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Major General Vadim Skibitsky, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to him, Moscow has begun launching the system’s satellites at a faster pace than expected. In March 2026, Russia had already launched the first 16 devices into low-Earth orbit, after which it continued to form a satellite constellation.

Russian plans call for increasing the number of Rassvet satellites to 292 by 2027, and to 924 by 2035.

Currently, the system can only operate fragmentarily, with satellites flying over certain areas. However, after the deployment of a full-fledged constellation, it will be able to function on the Starlink principle, according to the GUR.

In particular, Skibitsky also reported that the Ukrainian side is already discussing ways to counter the Russian satellite system.

It was previously reported that Russia launched the second batch of Rassvet satellites, bringing the total number of such devices in orbit to about 40 .

However, for the network to operate stably, according to Ukrainian experts, the Russian Federation needs to launch at least 200–250 satellites into orbit.

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