The European Commission is studying options for assistance if the Starlink satellite internet network stops operating in Ukraine. Kyiv is already allegedly «interested» in the capabilities of the Govsatcom satellite network.
The European Commission is studying options for assistance if the Starlink satellite internet network stops operating in Ukraine. Kyiv is already allegedly «interested» in the capabilities of the Govsatcom satellite network.
Although billionaire Elon Musk previously denied Reuters reports that Ukraine may disable access to the Starlink satellite internet used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military is considering alternatives to the American service .
Europe is also considering various options in the event of Starlink being shut down. European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said that Kyiv has already «expressed interest» in how it could use Govsatcom, a combined network of existing EU national government satellites, as well as IRIS², a new constellation that is not expected to be operational until the 2030s, Politico reported .
«The Commission will continue to engage with Ukraine on this matter,» he said.
Earlier this week, French Renaissance MEP Christophe Grudler wrote to the EU executive, urging it to urgently «assess all possible alternative satellite solutions that the EU could offer to Ukraine» instead of Starlink.
Grudler said that accelerating the Govsatcom deployment this year by skipping the certification process could be a temporary solution while IRIS² is being developed. Rainier said the system offers Kyiv «advance government services,» without specifying what that would be in practice or how soon it could be operational.
Other options are to use the commercial capacity of Eutelsat, Hispasat or SES satellites already in geostationary orbit, or the OneWeb constellation.
Govsatcom provides space communications services to the European Union and its Member States, supporting security-critical missions and operations, as well as the management of critical infrastructure.
«In order to create economies of scale and exploit synergies between civil and military structures, the Govsatcom system will be based on the aggregation of demand from different satellite communication user communities, as well as on the pooling and sharing of existing satellite communication supply,» the initiative description states .
It is specified that in the first phase of its implementation, which will last until the end of 2025, Govsatcom will use the capabilities and services provided by already launched national satellite systems and accredited private operators. Access to these existing infrastructures will be provided through one or more operational hubs that will connect users and the operational centers of different satellite communication providers in a smart and secure way.
Located in safe and secure sites, Govsatcom centers will be responsible for monitoring and ensuring overall bandwidth and service planning, as well as ensuring the security of the entire system.
If the first phase is insufficient to meet demand for the service, a second phase could create additional dedicated space infrastructure or capabilities through one or more public-private partnerships after 2025.
Recall that earlier, cyber expert Konstantin Korsun analyzed what alternatives exist in the world if Elon Musk’s Starlink suddenly becomes unavailable to the Ukrainian military. He named 4 options from the British, French, Swedish, and Ukrainians .
