France’s Eutelsat Proposes to Replace Starlink in Ukraine Amid Shifting U.S. Military Support

Shares of Eutelsat surged 119% on Tuesday, marking their largest single-day gain, as European defense-related stocks rallied following Germany’s decision to increase military spending in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine.

The French satellite operator is now actively exploring the possibility of replacing SpaceX’s Starlink services in Ukraine, Eutelsat CEO Eve Berneke told Bloomberg on March 6.

“Until now, we have been together with Starlink there, but it’s clear that everybody is asking us today, ‘Can you actually replace especially the very large number of terminals that Starlink has across Ukraine? ’ And that’s something we’re looking very actively at,” Berneke said.

Starlink has played a critical role in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, supplying around 40,000 communication terminals to maintain internet access as Russian attacks damaged fixed-line and mobile networks.

By contrast, Eutelsat currently has only a few thousand terminals in Ukraine, and not all of them are operational. Replacing Starlink’s infrastructure would require scaling up by “several tens of times,” Berneke said.

Eutelsat, which merged with the British company OneWeb in 2023, does not manufacture its own terminals. They source them from multiple suppliers.

The company has a small stockpile of commercial and military-grade terminals that could be deployed quickly, with an estimated 2,000 units available in the short term.

However, reaching Starlink’s level of deployment would take “a couple of months, not years,” according to Berneke.

Earlier, U.S. officials discussed the possibility of limiting Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite network if Kyiv does not agree to a strategic mineral resources deal.