All 16 of Russia's latest satellites for its Starlink rival failed to reach their intended orbit
Russia's attempt to build a domestic satellite internet constellation has suffered a setback as 16 of its Rassvet-3 satellites failed to reach their intended orbit. The satellites are currently in a lower orbit, which will likely lead to their premature destruction due to atmospheric drag.
Why it matters
The failure highlights Russia's ongoing struggle to develop independent space-based infrastructure following the loss of access to SpaceX's Starlink.
Russia relies on the Soyuz rocket to launch its spacecraft, as seen in this photo from a separate, successful July mission carrying US and Russian crew to the International Space Station. Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP After being cut off from Starlink, Russia is pushing to build its own version of the service. But publicly available data shows its latest batch of 16 satellites hasn't reached operational orbit. That's out of a total of 32 satellites launched so far, for a 37.5% success rate for now. An entire batch of Russian low Earth orbit satellites, intended to help create Moscow's version of Starlink , has failed to reach or remain at their anticipated altitudes just over a month after launch.
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