New satellite imagery shows damage at a Russian space center linked to Moscow’s version of SpaceX’s Starlink following a Ukrainian attack over the weekend.
The imagery, captured on Tuesday by US spatial intelligence firm Vantor and obtained by Business Insider, shows a hole in the roof of a building at the Progress Rocket Space Center in Samara, a city in western Russia, as well as damage to the exterior.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the military struck the facility, located more than 550 miles across the border, with FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles, calling the attack “a good achievement.”
Video footage shared on social media showed a massive fire at the facility, later followed by a large plume of black smoke. The extent of the damage inside the building is unclear.
The Progress Rocket Space Center is a joint-stock company under the Russian state corporation Roscosmos, which is responsible for space-related activity, research, and development.
The facility is a key part of Russia’s space industry, as it produces the “Soyuz” family of rockets that are used to launch spacecraft.
Ukraine’s military said the “Soyuz-2.1b,” a three-stage rocket, is used to deploy Rassvet, a satellite internet constellation in low Earth orbit (several hundred miles high) developed by the Russian aerospace company Bureau 1440.
Rassvet is a broadband communication system considered to be Moscow’s alternative to SpaceX‘s Starlink service, which is crucial on the battlefield for enabling drone operations.
Russian soldiers were using Starlink in Ukraine until earlier this year, when Kyiv pressed SpaceX to disable their terminals. Moscow has sought to replicate the service’s effects; it reportedly has more than a dozen Rassvet satellites so far and aims to build a constellation of hundreds in the coming years.
Starlink has been a significant asset for Ukraine, particularly in the several months since Russia was cut off from using the American service. Ukrainian commanders have described Starlink as a crucial element supporting battlefield operations, particularly for communication with drones and ground robots amid heavy electronic warfare conditions.
Starlink works in both Ukraine and in occupied Russian territory, but not in Russia. Kyiv has asked that these restrictions be lifted, arguing that doing so will improve its deep-strike campaign.
The Ukrainian attack on the Progress Rocket Space Center reflects an effort to degrade Russia’s efforts to field its Starlink alternative, and it underscores how space is increasingly becoming a focus of the war.
Fire Point, the Ukrainian defense company that makes the Flamingo cruise missile, said that the center is Russia’s only production facility for the Soyuz-2 rockets and that there is no backup to fill the gap.
“This is not a quick repair job,” Fire Point said, adding that it could be months before production is restored.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military said on Saturday that the center also makes “Earth observation spacecraft, which the enemy uses for reconnaissance purposes.”
“The extent of the damage is being clarified,” the military said at the time.
Beyond the space center, Ukrainian deep strikes in recent weeks have targeted military bases, energy facilities, and e-commerce logistics hubs throughout Russia.
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