Is Russia's rival to Starlink failing? Here's what we know.
Russia’s “Dawn” project to replicate SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network is progressing slowly, with only 32 satellites currently launched into low Earth orbit. The project is managed by Service 1440 and was originally scheduled to deploy 924 satellites by 2035 to provide connectivity for both military and civilian use. As of July this year, two batches of 32 satellites have been launched, accounting for about 10% of the planned 300 satellites by the end of the year. However, none of these 32 satellites have reached the designed orbit height of 500 miles (800 kilometers); instead, they were released to a position closer to Earth, and it is expected that their plasma engines will be used to raise their orbits in the coming months.