Since there are no short-term alternatives that could match the Starlink system, Ukrainians will have to live with Elon Musk's "ghost". Thanks to state-of-the-art, compact kits and a huge network of flexible beams, Starlink's 7,000 satellites dwarf the French company Eutelsat's fleet of 600 satellites, Politico reports, writes UNN.
Details
As Politico writes, Starlink has become vital for Ukrainian forces fighting Russia, but leaves Kyiv at the mercy of a billionaire who is now a top adviser to United States President Donald Trump. In March, Musk warned that "the entire front line will collapse if I turn it off."
To cope with this risk, the EU is reportedly looking for backup options for Ukraine. One of them is the Franco-British operator Eutelsat, which is positioning itself as a way for Kyiv to get out of Musk's control.
"Working with Starlink is an addiction that can be solved in the White House or (Trump's private residence - ed.) Mar-a-Lago. It's good to have a few options," Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told Politico.
But today's alternatives to Starlink are not ready to compete with Musk - including Eutelsat, by Berneke's own admission.
"If we were to take on all the communications bandwidth for Ukraine and all the citizens, we wouldn't be able to do it. Let's be very honest. But I think we can provide bandwidth for some critical government use cases," Berneke said.
Politico notes that few companies have invested in low-Earth orbit satellites. Such systems offer faster connections and lower latency, which is crucial for real-time operations such as drone warfare, but they remain expensive and cumbersome to operate. Starlink, owned by Musk's SpaceX, is said to be leading the market, Eutelsat is a strong competitor, and others, such as Amazon's Project Kuiper, are still lagging behind.
"The kind of solution that Starlink offers is unique. Starlink has "technically broken barriers" and "filled a void because there was nothing else," said Christopher Bo, a space industry expert at consulting firm Analysys Mason.
Politico notes that thanks to state-of-the-art, compact kits and a huge network of flexible beams, Starlink's 7,000 satellites dwarf Eutelsat's fleet of 600 satellites and relatively bulky terminals. Musk's network can offer 23 to 490 times more bandwidth than Eutelsat over Ukraine, depending on usage scenarios, the publication writes.
It is reported that last year there were more than 42,000 Starlink kits in Ukraine.
"I don't think we need to get close to that, but you could think about having at least a couple of thousand... for support in critical locations," said Berneke of Eutelsat about the alternative.
Politico notes that Musk's influence on the conflict is not only hypothetical. In 2022, he rejected a request to activate Starlink over Russian-occupied Crimea, preventing a Ukrainian drone strike on Russian ships, as it would make parent company SpaceX an "explicit accomplice to a major act of war," the publication notes.
According to Berneke of Eutelsat, "the last few weeks have shown that multiple sources are needed to ensure military and government communications."
The European company is currently negotiating with the EU to get money to increase the number of user kits and possibly secure funding for future satellite launches that will increase network capacity in the coming years.
"Discussions are really taking place at the EU level, with our member states and with the industry," said European Commission spokesman Thomas Renière.
Investors are paying attention. Eutelsat's shares recently surged, fueled by hopes that the company would replace Starlink in Ukraine. The stock has since lost some of that momentum.
The EU is also reportedly working on a system called IRIS², a multi-billion dollar project to develop a sovereign system that would compete with Starlink. But delays and cost overruns have meant that it will not be operational until the early 2030s, the publication indicates.
"It's great that there is cooperation between governments and private individuals. But in the end, it's a drop in the bucket," said analyst Baugh.
Addition
In early March, billionaire Elon Musk promised never to disable Starlink systems for Ukraine.
Prior to that, Musk stated that the entire Ukrainian front would collapse if the Starlink systems were shut down. According to him, they are the backbone without which the Ukrainian army cannot do without.