Putin Praises Elon Musk as 'Genius' as Russia Builds Starlink Rival
techOct 29, 202617162
Russian President Vladimir Putin called SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a "genius" at the Russia-Africa Summit and said Russia is in "close contact" with Musk and other U.S. partners while developing Rassvet, a Russian low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation built by private company Bureau 1440. Rassvet has 31 satellites in orbit out of 32 launched since March, with 26 in working orbit at about 509 kilometers, according to Orbital Radar. Putin contrasted Rassvet's early stage with Starlink's scale, saying Starlink already has more than 5,000 satellites while CNBC reported Starlink operates a constellation of more than 11,000 satellites serving 174 countries. The remarks came as Ukraine has accused SpaceX and Musk of imposing restrictions that slowed military satellite internet service Starshield, degrading connectivity for fast-moving terminals above roughly 100 miles per hour and prompting criticism from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. CNBC noted continued fighting: a Russian jet-powered drone strike killed 13 and injured 10 at a Dnipro railway station, Kharkiv sustained damage to an educational institution, and Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it intercepted and destroyed 1,214 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles overnight. Ukrainian and international scrutiny of satellite controls and of companies supplying services to Ukraine is ongoing, and preparations were reported for a possible trilateral meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy, and Donald Trump in Abu Dhabi by November 10.
