Russia is developing a satellite internet network to rival Starlink, but recent launches are experiencing orbital decay.
Two Rassvet-3 satellites are rapidly losing altitude and heading for atmospheric reentry, highlighting ongoing deployment and altitude maintenance challenges for the constellation.
Russia has been trying to develop its own alternative to Starlink, but the effort accelerated this year when SpaceX cut off Russia's access to Starlink. As part of this, Russia launched a new generation of satellites called Rassvet-3 in March and July. However, few of them managed to reach the design, which envisaged operating at an altitude of 800 kilometers.
Fall of satellites towards Earth
According to Sonik Space estimates, two of the satellites are falling towards Earth. The Rassvet-3 23 satellite is expected to re-enter the atmosphere on October 29 and Rassvet-3 17 on November 1. The remaining satellites in the same series are moving at lower altitudes, between 250 and 512 kilometers, as recorded by OrbitalRadar. A similar incident occurred in June, when a satellite from the first batch fell back to Earth.
Independent researchers, such as the Institute for the Study of War, said in a report in August that the network is unlikely to be successful anytime soon. Despite these difficulties, Ukraine has reported that Russian forces on the frontline are managing to use the network for up to two hours a day.
The system currently has around 24 operational satellites, with a goal of reaching 250 by 2027.
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