Russia’s Rassvet Satellite Telecommunications System to Be Tested in Belarus
The first batch of ground terminals has arrived in the country. Emergency services personnel, including staff from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, will receive the equipment.
When Russian authorities announced plans to build a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications system based on the Rassvet (Dawn) satellites, they made clear from the outset that it would serve not only the domestic market but also users in other countries. The project is intended to become part of Russia’s technology exports and compete with solutions developed by Western corporations.
Testing the Technology in Challenging Conditions
Belarus is now set to become the first foreign user of the Russian service. The country will take part in trials of the technology being developed by Bureau 1440, a company within IX Holding. Several signal-receiving terminals have already arrived in Belarus. Emergency response personnel, particularly staff from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, will use the equipment. Pavel Tkach, the country's first deputy minister of communications and informatization, announced the delivery.
The official explained that Russian satellite connectivity could be especially useful in areas where terrestrial infrastructure has sustained extensive damage. He cited a hurricane that disrupted the power supply in Mozyr as an example. Communications were also affected, making it difficult to coordinate the removal of fallen trees and repairs to power lines.
“Unfortunately, our communications equipment kept working only as long as its batteries held a charge. After that, the batteries had to be recharged. We would go out and recharge them, but that was not enough,” the first deputy minister explained.
Capabilities That Even Starlink Does Not Offer
The new equipment is designed to help address precisely this problem. It can be deployed quickly at an incident site, providing telephone service and internet access. Tkach described the Russian technology as advanced and compliant with international standards. He also said the new equipment offers several specific capabilities that are not available even with the US-based Starlink system.
Another batch of terminals will be delivered to Belarus in due course. This time, they will be tested for use by the civilian sector.
From Testing to Commercial Service
Residents of Belarus will also be able to subscribe to communications services based on the Rassvet satellites. The launch timeline will depend on how quickly the orbital constellation is deployed.
The Rassvet communications system is built around satellites orbiting at an altitude of 800 kilometers above Earth. This configuration is designed to provide global coverage with a relatively small number of spacecraft. The satellites use a 5G non-terrestrial network (5G NTN) architecture and exchange data over laser links. They are also equipped with plasma thrusters that allow them to adjust their orbital positions.
The satellites could also extend telephone service and broadband internet access to remote parts of Russia, as well as to aircraft, trains and ships.
How the Project Began
The system's testing phase is considered to have begun in July 2023, when the first three experimental satellites of the Rassvet-1 mission were placed into orbit. The spacecraft were designed to validate key technologies. The following month, the company conducted a satellite video call between Moscow and Mount Fisht in the Republic of Adygea. The demonstration confirmed that the system developed by Russian engineers could transmit data in practice.
In May 2024, three satellites from the Rassvet-2 mission were launched. During the trials, developers tested laser-based data transmission between satellites. By July, they had achieved a successful link over a distance of 1,005 kilometers, with a data rate of 10 Gbps.
Full-scale deployment began in 2026. Two batches of 16 communications satellites each were launched in March and July. These launches marked the start of building out the operational infrastructure and made it possible to conduct larger-scale tests of the technology on the ground.
The trials in Belarus will mark the first practical step toward taking Russia's satellite communications technology to international markets. Crucially, the system will be tested under genuinely challenging conditions. If the trials are successful, they will provide further evidence of the technology's reliability. The service's subsequent expansion will depend on how quickly the orbital constellation grows. The stated target of launching commercial services in 2027 remains a planning milestone.
