EU Explores Alternatives to Starlink for Ukraine’s Defense Communications

The European Union is in negotiations with four major satellite internet providers to explore alternatives to SpaceX’s Starlink for Ukraine’s defense and critical infrastructure connectivity, according to the Financial Times.

The discussions involve Luxembourg-based SES, Spain’s Hisdesat, the UK’s Viasat, and the Franco-British operator Eutelsat/OneWeb. The initiative follows recent developments in U.S. policy, including a pause in military assistance and intelligence-sharing with Ukraine.

Starlink terminals are widely used by the Ukrainian military, hospitals, businesses, and humanitarian organizations. According to Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, over 40,000 terminals are currently in operation, making their replacement a complex and resource-intensive process.

Miguel Ángel García Primo, CEO of Hisdesat, confirmed that European officials have approached his company as part of the initiative.

However, industry experts caution that no existing European satellite network can match the scale and capability of Starlink. Luke Palermo Serra, Research Director at Analysys Mason, stated that even a combined effort among European providers would not fully replicate Starlink’s connectivity.

SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh acknowledged the challenges but confirmed that the company is already providing services to Ukraine and is engaged in discussions to expand its capacity. Viasat representatives also expressed readiness to support Ukraine’s connectivity needs, highlighting their existing infrastructure and plans to scale operations.

“However, reaching Starlink’s level of deployment would take ‘a couple of months, not years,’” according to Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke. She emphasized that while Starlink has an extensive network of approximately 40,000 terminals operating across Ukraine, Eutelsat is actively assessing its capacity to scale up. The company currently has only a few thousand terminals in the country, with some not yet operational, and would need to expand its infrastructure significantly.

To enhance Ukraine’s communications resilience, the EU is considering leveraging Govsatcom, a secure satellite network integrating existing government satellite capabilities from EU member states. According to European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier, Govsatcom is expected to reach initial operational capacity this year as a temporary measure until the full deployment of IRIS², the EU’s next-generation satellite constellation, in the 2030s.

Despite these efforts, transitioning away from Starlink remains a long-term challenge due to the significant investment and technological advancements required to match its high-speed, low-latency connectivity.

Meanwhile, Maxar Technologies, a key provider of commercial satellite imagery to the U.S. government, recently paused services to Ukraine at Washington’s request. However, the company indicated that its commercial partners and allied governments can still access its data for intelligence-sharing purposes.