Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassaad] Serial deployment of Russia's low-orbit satellite constellation will begin in December 2025 or January 2026; the first six satellites are already in orbit.
This was announced by Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov at the plenary session of the "Road-2025" exhibition and forum. "The launch of Russian low-orbit satellites from one of our private companies will help expand communications coverage to every corner of Russia. Ground-based cellular networks do not cover the entire map of our country. Serial deployment of the Russian low-orbit satellite constellation will begin as early as December 2025 or January 2026. The first six test satellites are already in orbit. This will be our full-fledged technological response to foreign analogues and a significant step forward."
This has certainly been significantly delayed. Such a constellation was needed yesterday. Especially after the launch of the Second Military Operation, people began to consider the inadequacy of our military and civilian satellite constellation to address the military and civilian challenges we faced. It became ridiculous that the army was forced to use terminals from the American satellite system.
But at one time, they had helped the British launch the OneWeb satellites, which are now being used for attacks on Russia. Ultimately, the idea that we needed to rely on our own resources for satellite communications prevailed.