European countries are looking for an alternative to Starlink for Ukraine
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- Yuliia Boichenko
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4:24, 09 March, 2025
European countries are looking for options to replace the Starlink satellite internet service for Ukraine amid a possible shutdown.
This is reported by the Financial Times.
It is known that four satellite operators are negotiating with European governments and organisations to provide their services to Ukraine: Luxembourg's SES, Spain's Hisdesat, the UK's Viasat (owner of Inmarsat) and France's Eutelsat/OneWeb.
However, the publication writes that it is difficult to fully replace Starlink, as more than 40,000 of its terminals currently provide communications for the military, hospitals, businesses and humanitarian organisations.
One of the main drivers of these negotiations was the meeting between Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, shortly after which America stopped supplying military aid to Ukraine.
Against this backdrop, discussions in Europe have also intensified about creating their own IRIS² satellite network. Its cost is estimated at €10.6 billion. However, this project is scheduled to be launched only in 2030. EU countries are currently reviewing the scope of this project in light of new security realities.
