The European Commission is exploring how it can assist Ukraine in securing satellite communications amid reports that billionaire Elon Musk may cut off Ukraine's access to the Starlink network.
This was reported by Politico, as noted by "European Truth".
Space communication systems are critically important for Ukraine, yet it remains unclear whether Elon Musk will continue to offer Starlink during the ongoing conflict.
Last year, Ukraine announced that approximately 42,000 Starlink terminals were operational in the country, with about half of them funded by Poland.
European Commission representative Thomas Renier stated that Kyiv has already "expressed interest" in how it can utilize Govsatcom – a unified network of existing national government satellite systems within the EU – and IRIS², a new constellation expected to launch only in the 2030s.
"The Commission will continue its contacts with Ukraine in this regard," Renier said.
Last week, French Member of the European Parliament from the Renew group, Christophe Grudler, urged the EU executive to urgently "evaluate all possible alternative satellite solutions that the EU can offer to Ukraine" instead of Starlink.
Grudler mentioned that expediting the deployment of Govsatcom this year by bypassing the certification process could serve as a temporary solution while IRIS² is being developed. Renier indicated that the system would provide Kyiv with "preliminary state services," without specifying what this would entail in practice or how soon it might be operational.
Other alternatives include utilizing commercial capacities from satellites like Eutelsat, Hispasat, or SES, which are already in geostationary orbit, or the OneWeb constellation.
At the end of February, Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digitalization Krzysztof Gawkowski confirmed that Warsaw will continue to support Starlink satellite communications in Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky previously stated that hints from the U.S. regarding the potential shutdown of Starlink terminals in Ukraine had not been received, but preparations should be made for such a possibility.