The second batch of Russian Rassvet satellites appears to have failed to reach their planned operational altitudes in space, marking another setback in Moscow’s efforts to rapidly deploy a Russian analogue to Starlink.
Ukrinform reports, citing the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), that none of the 16 Rassvet satellites from the second batch launched on July 19 had reached the expected altitude of 550 kilometers above Earth as of August 31, according to satellite tracking data from N2YO.
Many of these satellites were at altitudes of between 300 and 400 kilometers, and at least two satellites were heading toward Earth’s atmosphere.
These altitudes are significantly below the planned operational altitude of 870 kilometers for the Rassvet satellites.
The report notes that satellites operating at lower altitudes have shorter service lives because of increased atmospheric drag from the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere and greater fuel consumption compared with satellites operating at higher altitudes.
