Rassvet Satellites Reach Stable Coverage Window Of Several Hours Over Ukraine

The Russian Rassvet satellites operated by Bureau 1440 already provide at least two “communication windows” per day over Ukraine, each lasting more than an hour.

Satellite communications expert Volodymyr Stepanets told Militarnyi this based on an analysis of the Russian satellites’ trajectories.

As of July 31, 2026, the satellites of the Russian company Bureau 1440, launched in late March 2026, had completed their deployment into operational formation in orbit. Twelve of the 16 launched satellites have already reached their operational altitude of 550 kilometers; three more are gradually ascending; and one satellite burned up, presumably due to a manufacturing defect.

“We can see that a chain with good coverage has effectively already been formed, which provides this level of coverage about twice a day, but in reality there are more passes — that is, several such chains can fly over various regions at intervals of about every 1,5 hour. But what’s important is that these satellites are already providing fairly dense coverage,” he said.

According to data from the N2YO service, Russian satellites are in orbits that allow them to pass within the line of sight over Ukraine four times a day. However, only during two or three of these four passes do the satellites rise high enough above the horizon to maintain a stable connection with ground terminals.

During each pass, which lasts about 1-1,5h for the full formation, a “communication window” opens, during which the Russians can theoretically use satellite terminals to communicate with and control maritime drones, as well as heavy strike and reconnaissance UAVs based on the Geran-2/3/4 series.

In late July, Russia launched the second group of 16 communications satellites for the Rassvet project into orbit. If the deployment of this constellation proceeds at the same pace, it can be expected to reach operational altitudes in October-November and provide two additional “communication windows.”

The officially announced schedule calls for commercial operations to begin in 2027. Russian sources have previously mentioned plans to increase the number of satellites to 250 by 2027, to 730 by 2030, and eventually to over 900 by 2035.

At the same time, such a schedule would require regular launches of new batches of satellites at a rate of about 16 satellites per month, whereas currently they are launched approximately once every four months.

However, even if this pace were maintained, the Russians would launch their fourth group of satellites by March 2027 and, by mid-summer, would be able to secure round-the-clock coverage over Ukraine. This could have serious consequences for the Defense Forces if they do not deploy effective countermeasures by that time.

Threat posed by the Rassvet system

Bureau 1440 subscriber terminals measure up to 60 cm in length and width and weigh less than 15 kg. Each terminal has a bandwidth of up to 1 Gbit/s. The design was developed with the Russian climate in mind: it is intended to operate in a temperature range from −40 to +40 °C. Like Starlink terminals, the Russian terminals are based on active phased array antenna technology. This allows the terminal to automatically locate a satellite, establish a connection with it, and maintain the link without manually adjusting the antenna.

According to publicly available information, the company has already completed development of the terminal’s base version and is preparing to launch mass production.

Given the terminals’ specifications and the overall context of the project’s development, it can be expected that once mass production is established, they will quickly find their way into the Russian military. Their likely applications will not be limited to ground-based systems.

We should prepare for the appearance of such terminals not only at command posts, on vehicles, or on ships, but also on strike and reconnaissance UAVs. In the future, they may be integrated into platforms based on the Geran-2/3/4/5, Garpiya, or other long-range unmanned aerial vehicles. A similar communication channel could also be used to guide cruise missiles, glide bombs, and other weapons.

For more details on the Rassvet system, read our special report “The Anatomy of ‘Bureau 1440’: Structure and Vulnerabilities of Russia’s ‘Rassvet’—the Starlink Analog.”