17:00 12-04-2026

Drone Attack Attempt Reported During Plesetsk Launch

Roscosmos says drones targeted Plesetsk Cosmodrome during a satellite launch as Russia advances its low-orbit internet system and expands future deployments.

Dmitry Bakanov, head of the state corporation Roscosmos, told President Vladimir Putin on April 11 that Ukrainian forces had attempted to strike the Plesetsk Cosmodrome with drones during a satellite launch.

He said the attack attempts coincided with the deployment of communications satellites, adding that despite serious incoming threats targeting the site that day, joint combat crews from Roscosmos enterprises and space forces carried out the mission as planned.

Putin, in turn, congratulated the Roscosmos chief on the successful rollout of a domestic low-Earth orbit broadband satellite system.

Bakanov noted that this milestone had been reached roughly two weeks earlier. At that time, Bureau 1440 announced the launch of the first 16 satellites forming the core of the будущей constellation. The launch took place on March 23 at 20:24 Moscow time.

A series of further launches is planned to build out global internet coverage. The program was initially scheduled to begin in December 2025, with a full коммерческий rollout expected in 2027.

Bureau 1440, a Russian private aerospace company within the ICS Holding group, is developing a low-orbit satellite data network with worldwide reach. The project is positioned as a domestic alternative to Starlink and предусматривает the deployment of hundreds of satellites designed to deliver high-speed internet with low latency, including for transport and remote regions.