Russian ‘Starlink Rival’ established with 16 satellites launched, aims for 900 by 2035 — commercial operation to begin next year with 250 sputniks

Russia has launched 16 satellites as part of its Rassvet system, a state-funded project aiming to rival Elon Musk's Starlink with a planned constellation of 900 satellites by 2035. The commercial operation is set to begin next year with 250 satellites. Bureau 1440, a private aerospace company, is a key partner in this endeavor, overseeing system checks and future launches. The Russian government has allocated $1.26 billion for the development of Rassvet, which comes as SpaceX's Starlink implemented a whitelist-only policy, potentially accelerating the Russian project. Despite its ambitions, Rassvet's satellite count will be significantly lower compared to other global satellite internet initiatives like Starlink and Amazon Leo.