Russia's first Rassvet broadband satellite fails, burns up after three months in orbit
By
Dylan Malyasov
Summary
Russia's first satellite for its Rassvet broadband constellation (Object 4) failed shortly after its March 2026 launch, burning up in Earth's atmosphere on June 6, 2026, after less than three months in orbit. The satellite never performed any orbit-raising maneuvers, steadily losing altitude until re-entry. The failure represents a setback for Russia's attempt to build a domestic competitor to SpaceX's Starlink broadband constellation.
Source
bskyRussia's first Rassvet broadband satellite fails, burns up after three months in orbitdefence-blog.comKey quotes
· 2 pulledThe first satellite from Russia's nascent attempt to build a domestic broadband constellation fell back into Earth's atmosphere and burned up on approximately June 6, 2026, less than three months after it launched.
The satellite, designated Object 4 within the Rassvet group and carrying the NORAD tracking identifier 68363, never performed a single orbit-raising maneuver after its March 2026 launch, steadily losing altitude.
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