Bureau 1440

But by 2028, Russians already will have something like 400 of them, and they will be covering pretty much globally.

But what many people do not understand, especially, this Rassvet thing, from what I know, as you might understand, not everybody knows, well, it's called Bureau 1440.

But there is a certain, obviously, military thing attached to it.

They communicate not only through radio signal, they communicate through lasers.

It has since adapted through EW relays, commercial radios, and fiber optic drones, whose physical control cables resist conventional radio frequency jamming.

None so far supplies the wide area satellite broadband that Moscow has lacked, so its proposed answer has been Rasvet, a low Earth orbit constellation developed by Bureau 1440, part of X Holding.

Russia launched 16 production series Rasvet satellites in March 2026 and another 16 in July this year, against an ambition of roughly 292 by 2027 and more than 900 in the long term.

But the gap between promise and performance remains considerable.

Satellites alone cannot provide it.

And then there is a more revealing story on how Russia is sourcing the technology despite sanctions.

You know, an investigation by Ukraine's Center for Defense Reforms, reported by RBC Ukraine, traced more than 1,300 companies in Bureau 1440's supply network.

It reported nearly $68 million in foreign currency payments for imported goods in 2025, and some suppliers obtained over 90% of their imports from China.

And in another story, The Kyiv Post are reporting that Major General Illia Pavlenko, the former deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence, the HUR, has warned that Russia's emerging Razvet low orbit satellite network could enable Moscow to control long-range strike drones over Ukraine and Europe in real time.

Built by Russian company Bureau 1440 as a domestic alternative to Starlink, the system aims to operate at an 800-kilometer altitude, offering high-speed connectivity to relay live video and mid-flight commands to jet-powered drones.

Now, General Pavlenko noted the network heavily relies on Chinese technology, claiming 90% of Russian defense sector financial settlements now use the WAN, and Chinese banks are concerned, echoed by President Zelenskyy, who stated Beijing is actively assisting Russia's satellite efforts.

Now, although the initial 2026 launches of 32 satellites faced technical setbacks, Pavlenko stressed that a functional network poses a direct hybrid warfare threat to Europe and extends potential risks globally to actors like cartels and Somali pirates, prompting Kyiv to petition the International Telecommunication Union to ban Razvet over Ukrainian territory.

The UAE and Turkey that also provide advanced tools, microelectronics, and other dual-use components used in Russian ammunition production and jet-powered drones.

The letter further called for sanctions against companies supporting Russia's Rosvet low-Earth orbit satellite network, including Bureau 1440, 5C Group, and Altex.

This is the...

The Starlink type thing that they're doing over there.

Schmidt also took the position that questions about Starlink access for operations against Russian targets are a matter for governments and political authorities, not private companies, and would require a direct response from the federal government.

Rassvet operates under the IKS holding conglomerate and is built by Bureau 1440, a privately held Russian aerospace company.

Three test satellites were launched in 2023.

The network is planned for an orbital altitude of roughly 800 kilometers, higher than Starlink, and targets download speeds of 1 Gbps with latency under 70 milliseconds.

This is precisely what may be called technological sovereignty, possessing one's own satellite constellation to ensure stable connectivity across the entire country and beyond.

So the company Bureau 1440 was founded in 2020 with ICH holding group of technology companies.

Today it employs about 3,500 people.

80% of them are engineers, designers, and software developers specializing in spacecraft control.

while the state provides supplementary funding funding in 2023 the first three satellites the russvet one mission were launched into orbit they were followed by three more satellites russvet two used to test sequential data transmission between satellites at distances from 30 kilometers to a thousand kilometers Then came a pause, followed by the transition to mass production.

On March 23, 2026, the Soyuz 2.1b rocket equipped with the Fregat-M upper stage launched 16 satellites from Plesetsk Cosmodrome to an altitude of 300 kilometers.

After separation, the constellation was taken under the control of Bureau 1440's Mission Control Center.

The company emphasized that the journey was From the initial experimental satellites to the mass-produced models took 1,000 days.