Updated

Ukraine's Defence Intelligence (DIU) said on 13 November 2026 that none of the 30 Rassvet satellites Russia has launched has reached its planned 800 km orbit, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Of the 30, 26 have settled at about 500-520 km and two have already deorbited, with the rest still manoeuvring toward their target. The satellites were placed in orbit in two batches, on 23 March and 19 July 2026, using Soyuz-2.1b rockets from Plesetsk. Russia had planned to reach 47-48 spacecraft by the end of 2026, but a third 2026 launch was reportedly cancelled or postponed. DIU also cites dependence on foreign components, particularly Chinese electronics for antenna arrays, ground stations and terminals, and difficulty building compact user terminals. Russia completed testing of its Ultra terminal in September 2026 and plans about 1,000 units by year end. The project is run by Bureau 1440, part of the ICS holding, and overseen by Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov, who previously led Gonets, a partner of OneWeb. DIU said Russia may have gained technical know-how from that earlier cooperation, which it described as unverified. The delays make it difficult for Russia to deploy its Starlink rival, which it plans to use for military communications, drone control and missile targeting. Russia intends to launch 240 more satellites in 2027 to cover 94% of its territory, with constellation growth to 408 by 2031 and 924 by 2035 forecast by DIU.