MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. Russian aerospace company Bureau 1440 has successfully launched more than a dozen Rassvet high-speed internet satellites into low orbit, the company told TASS.

"On March 23, at 8:24 p.m. (5:24 p.m. GMT), the first batch of 16 communication satellites of the low-orbit constellation of the Russian aerospace company (part of the Intelligent Computer Systems (ICS) Holding) was launched.

The satellites were successfully placed into a reference orbit, separated from the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, and were taken under control by the Bureau 1440's Mission Control Center. After their onboard systems are checked out and activated, they will begin their journey to the target orbit," the company said.

The spacecraft will integrate a 5G NTN communications system, an upgraded power supply system, next-generation satellite-to-satellite laser communication terminals, and a plasma propulsion unit.

According to ICS Holding CEO Alexey Shelobkov, the next stage will be the deployment of the satellite constellation, which will require dozens of launches and an increase in the number of satellites in orbit. "The Bureau 1440 team completed this journey in 1,000 days—that's how long it takes for experimental and production satellites to be launched into orbit. This is a complex engineering path associated with technological risks, but it is precisely these systems that will form the basis of the global data transmission infrastructure," he emphasized.

Bureau 1440, founded in 2020, is the developer and operator of a low-orbit satellite constellation that will provide broadband Internet access at speeds of up to 1 Gbps with minimal latency anywhere on Earth. The main consumers of the next-generation satellite communications service are expected to be transportation companies, the oil industry, energy, industry, agriculture, telecom operators, government agencies, emergency services, as well as companies in the tourism and geological exploration sectors. The work is being carried out as part of the Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the State national project.