Tag: Rassvet
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Russia’s Rassvet Broadband Constellation Faces In-Orbit Failures and Deployment Risks
Russia’s effort to build a sovereign low-Earth orbit broadband network has encountered propulsion problems and at least three probable satellite failures during the deployment of its first 32 operational Rassvet spacecraft. Bureau 1440, the Moscow-based company developing Rassvet, launched two batches of 16 satellites on March 23 and July 19, 2026. Both missions used Soyuz-2.1b…
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Rassvet Satellite Failures Expose Challenges Facing Russia’s Starlink Alternative
Russia’s effort to build a sovereign low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation has suffered a setback after the apparent loss of one operational Rassvet satellite and growing concerns that two additional spacecraft may soon reenter the atmosphere, raising questions about the pace and reliability of the country’s emerging Starlink competitor. According to orbital tracking data cited by multiple…
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Russia Accelerates Rassvet Satellite-Internet Deployment
MOSCOW/KYIV, Aug. 13, 2026 — Russia is accelerating the deployment of Rassvet, a domestically developed low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation intended to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign satellite communications. Recent launches and orbital observations suggest that the project has moved beyond experimental testing, although its present capabilities remain far short of SpaceX’s Starlink network. The system…
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Soyuz MS-22 suffers coolant leak, canceling Russian spacewalk
A planned spacewalk aboard the International Space Station on the evening of Dec. 14 involving cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin was canceled due to a coolant leak aboard the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. The leak began around 7:45 PM EST on Dec. 14 (00:45 UTC on Dec. 15) when controllers in both Houston and Moscow…
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Soyuz MS-18 crew relocates spacecraft to Nauka
The Soyuz MS-18 crew has successfully relocated their spacecraft from the Rassvet module to the Nauka module at the International Space Station. The relocation began at 12:21 UTC on Tuesday, clearing Rassvet for Soyuz MS-19’s arrival next week while providing the first opportunity to test Nauka’s temporary docking port. The crew of Soyuz MS-18 made…
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ISS shuffles docking ports ahead of busy schedule
Soyuz MS-17 has relocated to a new docking port in preparation for a spree of upcoming vehicle arrivals at the International Space Station. The relocation ensures that a Russian spacewalk in June can proceed, which will prepare the station for its first major addition in a decade. Soyuz schedule Soyuz MS-17 arrived at the ISS…
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Soyuz crew relocates spacecraft to new space station parking spot
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 1:20 p.m. EDT (1720 GMT) after docking. The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft is seen during a flyaround of the International Space Station on Friday. At left is a solar array of a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo freighter. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut strapped into their Soyuz spacecraft…