Putin says Russia is in contact with Elon Musk on satellite constellations

The Kremlin's comments land as Russia races to build Rassvet, its homegrown answer to Starlink Vladimir Putin says Russia has been talking with Elon Musk about low-Earth-orbit satellite constellations. That is a notable claim, given the state of relations between Moscow and the West. The Russian president confirmed the contact on October 28, 2026. He described Musk as a “brilliant person” and framed the exchanges as meaningful for the country’s space ambitions. The timing matters. Russia is building its own satellite network, called Rassvet, as a sovereign alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink. What Putin actually said Putin’s statement was short on specifics. He said Russia is discussing low-Earth-orbit satellite constellations with Musk. No formal collaboration or agreement between Musk and the Kremlin on satellite technology has been verified beyond Putin’s own remarks. So for now, the only public source for the relationship is one side of it. Inside Russia’s Rassvet project Rassvet translates to “Dawn.” The project is led by Bureau 1440 and operates under the oversight of Roscosmos, Russia’s state space corporation. VTB Bank is among its investors. That puts one of Russia’s major st...