Soyuz-2 Rassvet-3 (16 x)

The mission will launch the first batch of 16 Rassvet-3 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites providing broadband Internet with speeds up to 1 Gbps for the Russian company Bureau-1440. Bureau-1440 is a Russian company named after the number of orbits made by the first Earth's artificial satellite Sputnik-1. It is also a producer of the Rassvet satellites (which means "Dawn" in Russian). The company is planning to launch around 900 satellites by the 2035. The mission was launched in the great secrecy on March 23, 2026 at 20:24 Moscow time from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome using more powerful Soyuz 2.1b rocket variant, but without Fregat upper stage. Eyewitnesses reported launch in flight already after the second stage separation and some local media misinterpreted it as a traces of previous Progress-33 ISS cargo mission that was already in orbit since one day earlier. But in the morning of March 24, 2026 the producer of the Rassvet satellites - Bureau-1440 - confirmed the launch attaching the video from the moment of separation from the launch vehicle. Along 16 high speed Russian internet communication satellites Rassvet-3, additional payload consisted of a small Russian satellite OBZP1. The launch of the latter was separately reported before the Bureau-1440 announcement and without mentioning of Rassvet-3 group. The launch was successful and the communication with all satellites is already established.

A Roscosmos Soyuz-2 rocket launched the Rassvet-3 (16 x) mission on Monday, March 23, 2026 at 5:24 PM (UTC).