“We actively collaborate with European institutions and business partners in order to allow rapid deployment of additional user terminals for critical missions and infrastructure”. Tuesday, March 4, the French satellite operator Eutelsat gave faith to the Ukrainians by announcing that he was in talks with the governments of the Old Continent to provide more internet connection terminals on the territory. Its goal is simple: replace Starlink, the Internet service provider of the company SpaceX by Elon Musk, which threatens to leave Ukraine.
A major asset for the Ukrainian army
Revealed at the start of the week, these discussions relate to the use of a combination of constellations of satellites to strengthen connectivity in Ukraine and in the Black Sea region: Oneweb, located about 1,200 kilometers above the earth, and the Geo at 35,000 kilometers. Eutelsat, holder of the Oneweb satellite constellation, with whom the British company had merged in 2023, said that the extent to which its satellites could supplement existing military communications in Ukraine depended on operational requirements, security protocols and integration with existing systems.
These two constellations are notably able to provide connectivity to Ukrainian drones, a major asset of the Ukrainian army response. According to The Financial Timessome experts even believe that any significant concentration of Russian troops or tanks would be decimated by attacks by Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine already uses the constellation of oneweb satellites: Eutelsat provides services in the country through a German distributor.
Less than 700 satellites in orbit against 7,000 for Starlink
On the other hand, it does not compete with the Starlink network, widely used in Ukraine since the start of the conflict. Thanks to small satellites placed in low orbit, Starlink users can currently access the Internet, whether rural areas or in destroyed parts. Crucial help on the battlefield.
Eutelsat technology is much older and has only 700 orbit satellites, compared to 7,000 for the Elon Musk company. In addition, OneWeb’s satellites orbit much higher than those of Starlink, which increases latency, complicating drone piloting.
Starlink may beat everything, Ukraine has no choice but to think of an alternative. On Monday, March 3, President Donald Trump announced a “break” in the military assistance provided by Washington in kyiv, raising fears of the withdrawal of the Internet access provider in Ukraine. Especially since American officials had mentioned the possibility of cutting the country’s access to Starlink last week, According to Reuters. Information denied by Elon Musk on X.