Europe to Help Ukraine Switch from Starlink to Alternative Satellite Solutions

Europe will help Ukraine switch to an alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink.

Politico reported on this.

The European Commission is figuring out how it could help Ukraine secure satellite communication capacity in the wake of Elon Musk reportedly threatening to pull Kyiv’s access to his Starlink network.

Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said Ukraine had already “expressed interest” in how it could use Govsatcom—a pooled network of the EU’s existing national government satellite capacity.

The possibility of using the IRIS² satellite constellation was also discussed, but it is not expected to be operational until the 2030s. Therefore, while this system is a potential alternative, it is not suitable for a quick transition in the event of a sudden shutdown of the U.S. system.

“The Commission will pursue its contacts with Ukraine in that regard,” said Regnier.

Govsatcom’s initial operational readiness should be achieved this year, but only as a temporary solution until the full deployment of IRIS².

It is not yet known what functionality Govsatcom will have.

Other options would be sourcing commercial capacity from Eutelsat, Hispasat or SES satellites already in geostationary orbit or with the OneWeb constellation.

Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, will be the official representative of the British company OneWeb in Ukraine.

OneWeb owns a constellation of satellites to provide broadband Internet connectivity and is an alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink.

OneWeb has its own satellite network and can provide high-speed satellite Internet, including in non-standard conditions.

Problems with Starlink in Ukraine

On February 9, 2023, Militarnyi reported that SpaceX had taken steps to prevent Ukraine’s military from using the company’s Starlink satellite internet service to control drones in the region in the war with Russia.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, which has provided Ukraine’s military with broadband communications in its defense against Russia’s military, was “never meant to be weaponized,” said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer.

According to Shotwell, the use of Starlink with drones is beyond the scope of the agreement that SpaceX has with the government of Ukraine.

In September 2023, it was reported that Elon Musk had handed over control of some of the Starlink satellite communication terminals used by the Defense Forces to the Pentagon.

The reason for this decision, according to Elon Musk’s biographer Walter Isaacson, was Mask’s desire to dissociate himself from responsibility related to the Russian-Ukrainian war. In February 2025, it was reported that Starlink terminals were being used by Russian invasion forces.

Businessman Elon Musk has reacted to reports that the Russian army is using Starlink terminals in the war with Ukraine, calling this information “false” and saying that his company SpaceX does not sell these satellite Internet terminals to Russia.