Vladimir Putin said that Russia maintains contact with SpaceX head Elon Musk and other American partners on issues of low-Earth-orbit satellite constellations, despite political disagreements between Moscow and Washington. The statement was made earlier today while Putin was viewing an exhibition at the Russia–Africa summit in Moscow, state-owned media agency TASS reports.
Putin called Musk a “truly brilliant” man before adding, “We are in close contact with American partners, including Mr. Musk, because in orbit it is very important not to interfere with each other and to observe a certain discipline and order.”
This is not the first time Musk’s name has come up in the context of Russia’s space operations. In July, The Insider and its investigative partners revealed documents outlining joint Russian-Chinese initiatives to counter Starlink.
Nevertheless, according to Putin, Russia values its cooperation with Musk’s tech company “despite all the political issues” and is proud to be creating a domestic analog of Starlink – the Rassvet system. The broadband internet constellation is being developed by Bureau 1440, which put the first 16 production satellites into orbit in March and a second batch in July. Commercial launch of the service is planned for next year, with more than 900 satellites anticipated to be in operation by 2035.
Earlier this month, Volodymyr Zelensky held Musk and Donald Trump responsible for restrictions on Ukraine’s access to Starlink, which helps the Ukrainian Armed Forces repel Russian missile and drone attacks. Trump denied ordering a speed reduction, and Musk accused Ukraine of violating his company’s rules by using the service for offensive drone strikes. On Oct. 24, Kyiv reported that the restrictions had been lifted. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump had asked Musk to remove them beforehand.
On Oct. 27, the Ukrainian company HIMERA and Denmark’s GomSpace announced the launch into orbit of the test satellite OBRIA NANO, which is meant to become the basis of an independent Ukrainian communications network. The device was launched on Oct. 1 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. In the future, the developers plan to deploy a constellation that will cover all of Ukraine in order to reduce its dependence on external communications providers.
