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President Vladimir Putin hailed Elon Musk as a genius on Wednesday, acknowledging Russia is only beginning to roll out its answer to his Starlink satellite internet system, Reuters reported.
Putin made the remark while listening to a presentation by Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev, who said Russia had launched more than 30 satellites as it builds its own Starlink equivalent.
"Just a second, I want to point out this is just our first step. Elon Musk is a genius, he's just a real genius," said Putin, who was accompanied by a group of African leaders attending a summit in Moscow.
Shadayev said in reply to a question from Putin that Musk had more than 5,000 low-orbit satellites up and running — although the actual number is close to 10,000, according to independent tracking site Orbital Radar.
"Over 5,000 — while we are only taking our first steps. But we are proud that we have begun to do this, and started to do it independently," Putin said, adding that the task now was "to move from quality to quantity".
"We are in close contact with our American partners — including Mr Musk — because it is very important, in orbit, not to get in each other's way and to maintain a certain level of discipline and order," he said.
Starlink uses a constellation of satellites that orbit far lower than traditional geostationary communications satellites, reducing signal travel time.
Ukraine has relied heavily on the system and its military version Starshield, but complained earlier this month of speed restrictions that hampered its ability to intercept Russian attack drones and forced the cancellation of some operations.