Ukrainian Intelligence Names 49 Firms Behind Russia's Rassvet Satellite Network

Ukraine's Defence Intelligence (DIU) has published a list of 49 Russian and Belarusian companies it says are involved in building Rassvet, a satellite communications system Moscow is developing as an alternative to Starlink. The information was reported by War&Sanctions.

DIU describes the system as a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites supported by ground-based control infrastructure, gateway stations and user terminals for both fixed and mobile facilities. The project draws in IT firms, microelectronics manufacturers, research centres, and entities linked to the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos and the Russian Defence Ministry.

According to the agency, the main contractor is Bureau 1440, a limited liability company that belongs to the ICS Holding IT group. Other firms in that group supply components and make solar panels, user terminals, printed circuit boards, electronic modules and other parts of the system.

DIU said Roscosmos and other Russian aerospace companies are responsible for launch vehicles and upper stages, electric propulsion engines and further satellite components. They also adapt the satellites, prepare them for launch and place them in orbit. The agency added that Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov directly oversees the project. He previously led the Gonets Satellite System, which partnered with the UK's OneWeb and set up a joint venture to develop low-Earth-orbit communications services for the Russian market.

Entities tied to the Russian Defence Ministry, DIU said, handle operation of the spaceport and coordination among project participants, and will eventually integrate the system into military communications infrastructure. The Russian bank VTB is listed among the investors.

The intelligence agency noted that 23 of the 49 companies and institutions have not been sanctioned by any country in the sanctions coalition. Roscosmos is among those unsanctioned.

DIU stressed that Rassvet is primarily meant for military use. It said Russia intends to use it for strategic communications and command and control, to direct strike platforms, to equip command posts and military equipment with user terminals, to support combat use of unmanned systems and to keep Defence Ministry facilities running. Moscow also plans to link the satellites to a space-based system that supplies targeting data for missile systems, and to fit user terminals to command vehicles of the Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile system.

"The planned coverage is primarily intended to include the territory of Ukraine and the EU. Once sufficient coverage has been achieved, Russia could use the system in hybrid acts of aggression against other countries," the agency warned.

DIU called for sanctions on the companies involved and for limits on supplies of components, equipment and software to them. It said Russia is deploying the system ahead of schedule. Sixteen satellites were placed in orbit in March 2026, and the constellation is planned to grow to 292 satellites by 2027 and 924 by 2035.