Misha Rudominsky, co-founder of HIMERA, which recently launched the first OBRIA NANO test satellite, said that at least 100 satellites will be needed to provide basic continuous satellite communications throughout Ukraine.
Misha Rudominsky, co-founder of HIMERA, which recently launched the first OBRIA NANO test satellite, said that at least 100 satellites will be needed to provide basic continuous satellite communications throughout Ukraine.
He said this in an interview with the publication "Oboronka". According to Rudominsky, the serial devices will weigh about 250 kg, while the already launched test OBRIA NANO weighs only 10 kg.
The first stage of the project was fully financed by consortium members, including HIMERA, GomSpace and other private companies. No public funds were involved at this stage. According to the HIMERA co-founder, further development of the satellite system may require tens and hundreds of millions, and in the future — billions of euros.
The future network should provide communications primarily to the Ukrainian Defense Forces, the government, and other state institutions.
"We will support full-fledged high-speed communication. Whether it will be as fast as Starlink remains to be seen. But we are planning to broadcast video with minimal delay and operate terminals on moving vehicles," said Misha Rudominsky.
Under favorable conditions, the full deployment of a satellite network could take one to two years.
Earlier, cybersecurity expert and former head of the CERT-UA cyber threat response center Konstantin Korsun said that to eliminate dependence on Starlink, Ukraine needs at least 200-250 of its own satellites. According to the specialist, the orbital altitude for stable communication should not exceed 500 km, like Starlink. If the satellites are higher, the signal delay will increase and the connection quality will deteriorate. In addition to the devices themselves, it is necessary to build a network of ground stations for integration with the global Internet infrastructure.
As a reminder, at the end of October, HIMERA, together with the Danish company GomSpace, launched and began operating the OBRIA NANO spacecraft, the first test satellite for creating a sovereign national network.
As Misha Rudominsky told dev.ua, OBRIA NANO is a CubeSat 8U communication nanosatellite manufactured in Denmark. The device was launched into orbit on October 1, 2026 as part of the SpaceX Transporter-18 mission, and the team recorded the first signals on October 2. The mission is currently at the stage of checking onboard systems and configuring equipment.
