'Much faster than originally planned': Ukraine warns of Russian rival to Musk's Starlink (politico.eu)

KYIV — Russia is racing to build its own low-orbit satellite internet system that could leave Ukraine vulnerable to more attacks, the deputy chief of Ukraine's military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitskiy, warned this week. Ukraine gained an edge on the battlefield earlier this year after Elon Musk was persuaded by Ukraine's former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov to cut off access for Russian forces operating in Ukraine. That complicated Russian communications and targeting. Now Russia is racing to build Rassvet, or Dawn, an equivalent to SpaceX’s Starlink being developed by Russian aerospace company Bureau 1440. "They have begun launching it much faster than originally planned," said Skibitskiy. Russia launched the first 16 satellites of Rassvet in March. Bureau 1440 reported the successful launch of a second package of satellites in July. “The spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle and contacted the flight control center. After completion of checks and commissioning of the subsystems, the satellites will begin transition to the target orbit to provide communication services,” Bureau 1440 said. Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Tuesday that Russia has about 40 Rassvet satellites in space. It plans to create a constellation of 292 low-orbit satellites...