Russia's "satellite Crash" Continues

The "Dawn" spacecraft will burn up in the atmosphere shortly.

Two more satellites from the “Rassvet” constellation—which Russian authorities describe as a “sovereign alternative” to Elon Musk’s Starlink—are falling to Earth and will burn up in the atmosphere in the near burn up in the dense layers of the atmosphere. Spaceflight researcher Anatoly Zak reports this, citing space observation data.

Of the 17 satellites launched into orbit in July as part of the second “bundled” launch, three never reached a stable altitude of about 500 km, as noted by RussianSpaceWeb. Two of them are falling: the Rassvet-30-17 object is calculated to re-enter the dense layers of the atmosphere on Saturday, October 31; the Rassvet-3-23 object—within 78 hours after November 6, according to The Moscow Times.

Another satellite, which had been losing altitude since mid-August, resumed maneuvers to raise its orbit in September. Most of the remaining satellites are “stable” at an altitude of about 500 km, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell.

In the first “batch” at the end of March, the project’s operator, Bureau 1440, launched 17 satellites. One of them never reached its intended orbit and fell in early June. Fourteen satellites began forming a chain at an altitude of just over 500 km. However, none of the satellites reached the expected altitude of 800 km, Zack noted. It was precisely this orbit that “Bureau 1440” had designated as its target.

Operating in lower orbits shortens the satellites’ service life due to drag from the upper atmosphere and higher fuel consumption, experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted: “It is unclear how long the ‘Rassvet’ satellites will remain in lower orbits, but they will likely not last as long as Russia had planned.” According to the ISW, the satellites in the first “batch” currently provide Russian troops with communication with ground terminals in occupied Ukrainian territory only twice a day for up to an hour and a half.

In June 2025, Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov stated that in the first phase, the “Rassvet” constellation would consist of 350 satellites, which would provide 24/7 global coverage. In the future, there are plans to expand the constellation to 900 satellites. The “Rassvet” project, costing 430 billion rubles, is Russia’s answer to the American Starlink, Bakanov claimed.

The start of “Rassvet’s” commercial operation was scheduled for 2027. The system will be used, among other things, to control combat drones, President Vladimir Putin said in June. “It is in no way inferior to ‘Starlink’; perhaps it even surpasses it in some respects,” the president said.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail [email protected]