Russian Satellite Communications Company is Moscow’s state-owned GEO operator, founded in the Soviet era and still running the orbital backbone for Russia’s broadcasters, telecom providers, and government networks. It manages one of the largest GEO fleets outside the U.S., Europe, and China, anchored by the Express series of satellites covering Russia, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia.

The company’s role is straightforward: provide satellite capacity for television, data, broadband, and government comms, with Roscosmos and the Ministry of Digital Development holding direct oversight. Its teleports and ground infrastructure tie into national broadcasters and defense networks, making it less a commercial competitor and more a strategic utility.

Over the last decade, RSCC’s fleet expansion was heavily reliant on Western manufacturers. Airbus, Thales, and SSL all supplied payloads for Express satellites. Sanctions after 2014 slowed that pipeline, and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine cut it off entirely. Russia has since pivoted to domestic manufacturing through ISS Reshetnev, but the quality gap between Russian-built satellites and the prior Western hardware remains significant. Reliability and launch cadence are now major risks.

Financially, RSCC is sustained by state demand. Government ministries, defense users, and state broadcasters guarantee core revenues. International commercial sales have shrunk under sanctions, with many former African and Asian clients now wary of dealing with Russian systems. Capacity leasing in Europe has effectively ended.

The strategic value of RSCC is resilience. It ensures Russia retains sovereign control over satellite comms, a capability that is politically non-negotiable. The downside is isolation. Without access to Western components, export customers, or collaborative programs, RSCC is locked into a domestic market with limited growth. Its fleet will remain large, but it will be aging hardware serving primarily internal demand.

RSCC today is less about competition and more about survival. It delivers sovereignty in orbit, but its ability to expand or innovate is constrained. For Russia, that is still enough, the point is to maintain control over national comms infrastructure, not to chase global market share.