Russia is spending enormous sums to build its own version of SpaceX, and the early results have been messy. The effort is led by Dmitry Bakanov, who has run the country’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, since February 2025. His job, in plain terms, is to drag Russia’s once-proud space program back into the top tier. So far the climb has been steep.

The clearest sign of trouble came from Russia’s answer to Starlink, the internet-from-space network owned by Elon Musk. The Russian system is called Rassvet, which means “Dawn.” On March 23, the private aerospace firm Bureau 1440 launched the first 16 operational Rassvet satellites into orbit aboard a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The company, part of IKS Holding, described the launch as a transition from testing to building a commercial service.

Then one of those satellites failed. One of the spacecraft launched in March suffered an apparent thruster failure and burned up in the atmosphere on June 6. Bureau 1440 confirmed the loss in a report published June 9, saying 15 of the 16 satellites from the March deployment remain in orbit and that the network’s capabilities were not affected. Losing a satellite only months into a flagship program is not the start Moscow wanted.

The gap with SpaceX is difficult to overstate. SpaceX has more than 10,000 Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit and began launching the network roughly six years ago. Russia placed its first operational group of 16 satellites into orbit only this spring. Analysts say Rassvet will need at least 250 satellites before it can function as a reliable broadband network. Bureau 1440 plans to have 156 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026 and expand the constellation to about 900 satellites by 2035.

Money is not the obstacle. The Russian federal budget has earmarked 102.8 billion rubles, about $1.26 billion, for Rassvet, while Bureau 1440 plans to invest another 329 billion rubles, roughly $4 billion, of its own funds through 2030. President Vladimir Putin has praised the project, saying it can compete with Starlink and eventually surpass it in certain markets.

There is also a military urgency behind the effort. In February 2026, Ukraine said unauthorized Starlink terminals used by Russian forces had been deactivated following coordination with SpaceX, disrupting Russian communications and drone operations. A domestically controlled satellite network would remove that vulnerability. Rassvet satellites are also designed to function as space-based 5G stations and support drone operations that are more difficult to jam.

The satellite network is only half of Bakanov’s challenge. The other is rockets. For decades Russia relied on reliable but expendable Soyuz launch vehicles, discarding used stages after every mission. SpaceX changed the economics of spaceflight by landing and reusing the first stage of its Falcon 9, dramatically lowering launch costs. Roscosmos is now attempting to follow the same model.

Bakanov has openly acknowledged the influence of Musk’s approach. In an interview with business newspaper RBC, he said reusing a rocket’s first stage instead of discarding it delivers significant cost savings. Russia’s answer is the Amur-SPG, a methane-fueled reusable rocket designed to replace the Soyuz-2. Roscosmos hopes each launch will cost about $22 million, well below the roughly $50 million it assigns to a Falcon 9 mission, with a first stage engineered for multiple flights.

The challenge is timing. As of January, Roscosmos expected the Amur-SPG to be completed around 2030—roughly 15 years after Falcon 9 first achieved a successful booster landing. Bakanov has said the immediate priority is proving the first stage can safely return and land. Roscosmos has already completed methane engine fire tests and selected landing sites in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region. Even Elon Musk, years ago, publicly suggested Russia should pursue full rocket reusability or risk developing technology that would already be outdated.

The full picture came into sharper focus this week as fresh reporting on Russia’s roughly $60 billion space revival highlighted how far the country still trails the industry leader. While Moscow counts its first operational satellites and conducts engine tests, SpaceX had completed 671 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches as of July 2, with 668 full mission successes. The ambition inside Roscosmos is real, and so is the funding. Whether Dmitry Bakanov can close a lead measured in thousands of satellites and hundreds of launches remains the question hanging over every ruble Russia spends.

JBizNews Desk | Moscow
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