Germany financing Ukraine’s use of Starlink alternative: Reuters

The service serves as an alternative to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has played a key role in Ukraine’s battlefield communications.

Eutelsat has been providing high-speed satellite internet services in Ukraine through a German distributor for about a year, with funding from the German government.

Ukraine currently has fewer than 1,000 terminals connecting to Eutelsat’s network, but Berneke said the company aims to increase this to between 5,000 and 10,000 “relatively fast.”

A Eutelsat spokesperson, Joanna Darlington, said discussions are ongoing regarding further funding from Germany and the EU.

Starlink, which provides service to over 50,000 Ukrainian military, medical, and civilian users, has faced uncertainty over continued access.

Concerns have grown after Reuters reported in February that the U.S. threatened to cut the service unless Kyiv agreed to a critical minerals deal.

Tech billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied these claims, and on March 9, claimed that cutting Ukraine off from Starlink would cause the country’s entire front line to collapse.

The dispute escalated after a tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 28, which led to a temporary halt in U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing as Washington sought to push Kyiv toward peace talks with Moscow.

Eutelsat’s OneWeb network operates using a dual-constellation approach, combining low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites.

The system could provide essential connectivity for Ukraine’s military, including for drone operations. Bloomberg reported on March 6 that Eutelsat is in advanced talks with the EU to potentially replace Starlink in Ukraine.