Internet war in space: Russia to challenge Musk

Russia will begin offering a service to rival Elon Musk 's satellite internet service Starlink, the head of Russia 's space program, Dmitry Bakanov, said.

Starlink says it operates the world's largest satellite constellation with more than 8,000 satellites, and Russian officials say Musk has revolutionized spacecraft launches, and Russia is paying the price.

The new 39-year-old head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency said in an interview with Russian television host Vladimir Solovyov that the space agency needs to move away from "inertia" and attract more young talent.

He said Russia was moving towards creating an alternative system to Starlink, which is operated by Musk's SpaceX company and provides internet services through a constellation of low-orbit satellites and is widely used in remote areas and conflict zones.

Starlink is being used extensively by Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia.

"RUSSIA HAS LEARNED FROM ITS MISTAKES"

"Several test vehicles in orbit have already been inspected, and production vehicles have been modified accordingly. We are moving quickly in this direction as well," Bakanov said.

A Russian aerospace company known as Bureau 1440 is developing a low-orbit satellite system for global broadband data transmission.

Bakanov said Russia had learned from its mistakes, including rejecting Musk's attempt to buy an interim Moscow club in 2002.

According to Ashlee Vance's 2015 biography of Musk, the Russians dismissed Musk in 2002 as untrustworthy, which led Musk to find a way to lower Russia's space launch fees.

The Soviets sent the first satellite

In the early years of the space race, the Soviet Union startled the West by becoming the first country to send a satellite called Sputnik 1 into Earth orbit in 1957, followed by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human in space in 1961.