Experts advising Russia’s Security Council called for faster production of domestic communications satellites and user terminals at a November 6 meeting on satellite internet. The council’s press office singled out Starlink and OneWeb, arguing that foreign-operated networks could be used to destabilize political and social conditions in countries where they provide service.
The statement came from a meeting of the presidium of the council’s Scientific and Expert Council. According to the press office account carried by Interfax, the participants discussed how a Russian low-Earth-orbit communications system could serve domestic information-security objectives. They also considered the prospect of offering the Russian system internationally.
The Domestic Network Behind the Discussion
Russia’s low-Earth-orbit broadband network is called Rassvet, meaning Dawn. In October, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev told President Vladimir Putin that Russia had launched just over 30 satellites as part of the system, according to Reuters’ reporting. The figure counts spacecraft launched as part of the program.
The experts identified two separate production tasks. Communications satellites supply coverage from orbit. Terminal equipment gives users a radio link to the satellites passing overhead. Increasing spacecraft production expands the hardware available for deployment in space. Increasing terminal production supplies the equipment through which customers can use that network on the ground.
The meeting connected the experts’ stated concerns about foreign services with a domestic policy proposal. Participants recommended that the responsible government bodies prepare measures for full deployment and continued operation of the Russian system.
