According to media reports,Dmitry Bakanov, director of the Russian Space Agency, said on the 17th that Russia will soon launch a satellite Internet system similar to "Starlink" and challenge the current status of "Starlink" operated by the American company SpaceX.
It is understood that SpaceX's "Starlink" provides high-speed broadband services to areas around the world with weak or expensive network coverage through approximately 7,000 low-Earth orbit satellites.
Bakanov revealed that Russia plans to launch its first batch of Internet satellites in December this year, and said: "We have completed on-orbit testing of some satellites and made many improvements."He expects the entire satellite network to be fully deployed within two years.
Bakanov also mentioned that Russia has learned lessons from past decisions, including its rejection in 2002 of US entrepreneur Elon Musk's proposal to purchase Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles for space launches.
According to a biography published by American writer Ashley Vance in 2015, Russia believed that Musk "lacked credibility" at the time, and this rejection encouraged Musk to turn to developing lower-cost space launch solutions.
