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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
UNIAN, ua.depositphotos.comThe aggressor country Russia has confirmed the operability of its satellite communications "Rassvet" from an orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers. According to Militarnyi, based on monitoring of Rassvet’s orbits, although the Russian satellite constellation "Rassvet" did not reach the planned orbit of 800 km, tests of the satellite communications involving real users in the Arctic confirmed the system’s operability.
Thus, during an experiment on 19 September residents of one settlement in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia gained access to a remote electronic voting system via the satellite channel.
"The scheme involved using low-Earth orbit satellites of the company "BUREAU 1440" to transmit data to a subscriber terminal on the ground. The signal was then delivered via Wi‑Fi to the user’s tablet, from which they could connect to the electronic voting system," Militarnyi explained.
It is noted that in its official publications and registration documents "BUREAU 1440" indicates a target orbit of about 800 km. Thus, stabilization of the first batch of satellites at roughly 500 km may indicate a last‑minute change of plans or deliberate disinformation about the future configuration of the constellation.
"At the same time an altitude of about 500 km by itself should not prevent the system from operating. It corresponds to the approximate altitude range at which Starlink operates: during 2026 year SpaceX plans to move satellites from orbits of about 550 km to an altitude of 480 km," Militarnyi notes.
So the discrepancy with the initially announced plans will not create technical problems for Rassvet’s operation, as confirmed by the tests in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It also cannot be ruled out that the current altitude is only temporary, and the satellites will later resume ascent.
The threat from the "Rassvet" system
As previously reported, Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military‑political observer for the Information Resistance group, noted that Russia continues attempts to implement space programs that could replace Starlink.
He emphasized that this is cause for concern, since Russian occupying forces with independent satellite communications could pose a serious threat on the battlefield.
At the same time, Serhiy "Flesh" Beskrestnov, adviser to the President of Ukraine on the development of technological defense directions, stressed that Russia’s failures to deploy Rassvet satellites into orbit should not reassure Ukrainians.
He explained that in the future this will give Russia the ability to control Shaheds and missiles online using satellites. In his words, this would be "a huge problem for us" and even "a small catastrophe."
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Російський "Рассвет" працює на висоті близько 500 км: що про це думають аналітики". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: UNIAN.
