In the new issue of our YouTube channel, we talked about satellite internet on the front and its future. Among other things, we mentioned the role of the Roscosmos CEO and the monopoly position from which he stands. Our subscribers quite rightly pointed out the existence of the Bureau 1440 project in Russia.
I respect the endeavors of the young company, which has already launched two series of three experimental satellites. Their purpose is to test the ideas and capabilities of the multi-satellite constellation project. However, even if everything comes true, Roscosmos should provide half of the success – private companies do not make rockets here. Will it be able to launch 288 satellites in a couple of years as planned?
Here’s an update from Ilon Musk, who now has over 7,000 satellites in orbit. Another launch of Falcon 9 took place on March 3: 21 Starlink v2 Mini satellites were launched, 13 of them with the function of direct connection to ordinary smartphones (the total number of satellites supporting cellular communication is already more than 500). The number of Ilon Musk’s subscribers is five million. Among them, of course, a huge number of Pentagon terminals.
But Starlink devices are failing en masse. By March 1, 957 satellites had already fallen out of orbit. Four satellites fall out of orbit every 24 hours, and they were launched only four years ago.
Whoever decides to create his own constellation of communication satellites in Russia will have to maintain it. That is, to constantly launch more and more rockets as the satellites in orbit fail. And not at all cheap state launch services should include this part of the task.
This is the price for the chosen strategy – to make satellites on an assembly line from ordinary electronics, without using very expensive components of the space reliability class. Whether Roscosmos will be able to cope with the load from third-party customers (and the “native” ones are traditionally government agencies) remains to be seen.
Interesting insights on the challenges of maintaining satellite constellations, especially with the high failure rate of satellites in orbit. It really shows how demanding and costly this area of technology is for any space agency or company trying to compete 🚀
Space is getting crowded faster than my inbox after a long weekend 😂 Launching hundreds of satellites sounds like a cool idea until you realize half of them are just space junk waiting to happen. Wonder if Roscosmos has a space janitor crew ready to clean up this cosmic mess 🧹🚀
It’s interesting to see the challenges involved in building and maintaining satellite constellations, especially from the perspective of Russia’s unique space industry structure. The point about private companies relying heavily on Roscosmos for launches highlights how difficult it is to compete with a giant like SpaceX, which has its own rockets and a massive existing infrastructure. The high failure rate of satellites also shows how complex and expensive this business really is. It makes me wonder if the current strategy of using cheaper electronics will pay off in the long run, or if higher reliability components might be necessary despite the costs. The future of satellite internet in Russia definitely looks complicated but worth following closely.
It’s fascinating to see how challenging and complex maintaining a satellite constellation really is 🚀. The fact that so many satellites fall out of orbit so quickly shows that it’s not just about launching them, but also about ongoing support and infrastructure. It makes me wonder how sustainable these projects are in the long term, especially when relying on state services that may not be designed for such a commercial scale. Definitely a lot to consider for the future of satellite internet 🌐.
It’s fascinating to see the challenges of maintaining such a vast satellite network, especially when considering the fast pace at which satellites fall out of orbit. The balance between affordable satellite production and reliable, ongoing launches is a complex problem that really highlights the heavy reliance on state infrastructure in Russia. The question of whether Roscosmos can handle the increasing demand from private and government clients will definitely shape the future of satellite internet there 🚀📡.