A satellite belonging to Rassvet, the low-Earth-orbit constellation Russia is building as a domestic alternative to Starlink, burned up in the dense layers of the atmosphere on 30 October, according to the Ukrainian military outlet Defense Express. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sanctioned the companies and people behind the project, the president’s office announced, as reported by hromadske.
Key facts
- The satellite that re-entered was Rassvet-3 No. 17, NORAD identifier 100083, launched on 19 July aboard a Soyuz-2.1b rocket, per Defense Express.
- It apparently never activated its propulsion system or corrected its orbit, and drag lowered it until it burned up after three months and 11 days, the outlet says.
- It is the second Rassvet satellite to fall this way; No. 4, NORAD 68363, launched on 23 March, fell out of orbit on 6 June, according to the same report.
- Of the 30 Rassvet-3 satellites in orbit, 26 have reached 500 km, with No. 11 expected to follow, Defense Express says — short of the constellation’s planned 800 km altitude.
- Zelenskyy’s decrees No. 1072/2026 and No. 1073/2026 targeted 10 companies and 19 Russian nationals tied to Rassvet, plus 39 shadow-fleet vessels, hromadske reports.
Why it matters
Rassvet is not a consumer broadband story yet, but it is the clearest attempt so far to build a state-run equivalent of Starlink. Ukraine’s president’s office says Moscow intends to use the network to coordinate troops and guide attack drones, including Shaheds, and missiles in real time, and warns it could threaten other countries. Its stumbles sit alongside other non-SpaceX constellations: Ukraine put the first satellite of its own Starlink alternative into orbit in October, and China-backed SpaceSail is targeting 10,000 satellites by 2030.
What happened to satellite No. 17
Defense Express says No. 17 was one of a batch launched in July and that it showed no sign of using its thrusters once in orbit. Without orbit-raising manoeuvres, atmospheric drag pulled it down to a critical altitude and it burned up. The outlet describes the two Rassvet losses as a relatively normal occurrence, given that these are the first production versions and the first launches.
Where the reports disagree
The accounts differ on three points. Defense Express puts the July batch at 16 spacecraft; Наша Ніва, citing space researcher Anatoly Zak via The Moscow Times, says 17 satellites went up in that second group launch and that three of them failed to reach a stable orbit near 500 km.
They also disagree on the fate of satellite No. 23. Defense Express reports that on 20 October, at an altitude of 220 km, Russia managed to save No. 23 by rapidly raising its orbit, and that it is now around 300 km and still climbing. Наша Ніва reports instead that two satellites are falling, with Rassvet-3-23 expected to enter the dense atmosphere within 78 hours after 6 November.
Timing of the first re-entry differs too: Defense Express states No. 17 burned up on 30 October, while Наша Ніва’s calculations had Rassvet-30-17 entering the dense layers on 31 October. The Belarusian outlet adds that a further satellite had been losing altitude since mid-August and resumed orbit-raising manoeuvres in September.
Stuck at 500 km, by design or not
All satellites from both batches are concentrating at about 500 km, Defense Express says, where they are spreading out relative to one another and moving into their required orbital positions; once in place they are to begin a synchronized ascent. The outlet argues the apparent stall should not be read as a failed mission, and says the satellites are already operational in test mode, with Bureau 1440 — the project’s developer and systems integrator — trialling communication terminals in remote regions of Russia. It adds there have been reports of terminals linked to the constellation appearing aboard Russian UAVs used to attack Ukraine.
Наша Ніва frames the same altitude differently: none of the first-launch satellites reached the company’s planned 800 km, and operating lower shortens satellite lifespan because of upper-atmosphere resistance and the higher fuel consumption needed to hold altitude. Experts from the American Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, told the outlet Russian satellites will therefore probably not operate as long as planned.
The sanctions package
Ukraine’s measures hit Bureau 1440 along with firms producing satellites, solar panels, electronic components and other equipment, plus a Belarusian aerospace components manufacturer, hromadske reports. “Rassvet is Russia’s attempt to create its own low-Earth-orbit satellite system and use it in its war against Ukraine and to threaten the entire world,” said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Zelenskyy’s sanctions policy adviser, who said the project depends on foreign technology and that Kyiv wants to disrupt it before the system becomes operational.
The second decree covers 39 vessels sailing under 13 flags, including Russia, Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands, carrying oil, petroleum products and gas condensate to countries including China, India, Egypt and Turkey. The president’s office says one tanker, the Vasily Dinkov, carried roughly 726,000 metric tons of Russian crude in 15 shipments in the first half of 2026.
The gap with SpaceX
The contrast in launch cadence was on display the next day. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:04 a.m. EDT on 31 October with 27 Starlink satellites, deployed about 62 minutes later, Around Prague reported, citing Space.com. The booster, B1093, flew for the 18th time and landed on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Pacific.
It was the 118th Falcon 9 flight of 2026, with more than 70% of those missions devoted to building out the network, which Space.com says now numbers more than 11,000 spacecraft — the service for which Starlink reported 13.6 million subscribers. Space.com described no change to customer service from this launch. SpaceX is gearing up for another Starship flight expected sometime in November, with no firm date given.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Rassvet meant to start commercial service, and how many satellites is it supposed to have?
Наша Ніва, citing The Moscow Times, reports that commercial operation of Rassvet was planned for 2027. It says Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov stated in June 2025 that the first phase would comprise 350 satellites for round-the-clock global coverage, rising later to 900.
How much is Russia spending on the Rassvet constellation?
Наша Ніва puts the project’s estimated cost at 430 billion Russian rubles, about 5.35 billion US dollars. The same report says Bakanov called Rassvet Russia’s answer to the American Starlink system.
How much communication does Rassvet actually provide to Russian forces right now?
According to data from the American Institute for the Study of War cited by Наша Ніва, satellites from the first launch currently give Russian troops contact with ground terminals in occupied Ukrainian territory only twice a day, with each session lasting no more than an hour and a half.
Did SpaceX lose satellites on its first Starlink launches too?
Yes. Defense Express notes that on the initial Starlink launch 60 satellites were placed in orbit and 10 of them failed to reach their intended orbits, with some deliberately deorbited to test the system’s deorbiting capability. It calls the two Rassvet losses a relatively normal occurrence for first production versions and first launches.
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