As Ukraine struggles with Starlink and US satellite data, Europe has no quick fix

By Vaishnavi Hajari, Gianluca Lo Nostro and Cassell Bryan-Low

Oct 14 (Reuters) - As Ukraine reported problems with Starlink satellite internet terminals and US data that warns of Russian ballistic missile attacks, Kyiv also faced the harsh reality that its European allies cannot offer any ready-made alternatives.

Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday the functioning of Starlink’s military-grade service Starshield had been interrupted when terminals were moving at high speed, hampering Ukrainian drones for attack missions and air defence.

Separately, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that, for the second night running, Ukraine had received no warning from its partners of a Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv.

The reasons for the difficulties were not immediately clear but followed another souring of relations between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine, after Trump announced a deal to waive sanctions on Russian diesel and called for Zelenskiy to be replaced.

Trump said on Tuesday that the United States was still sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Elon Musk and his SpaceX company had no immediate comment on Ukraine’s assertions.

European countries have voiced strong support for Ukraine and Zelenskiy. But the problems with vital data highlighted that Ukraine and Europe depend heavily on US systems for both low-orbit satellite communications — provided by SpaceX via Starlink — and space-based infrared sensing that feeds into early-warning systems.

A US satellite constellation called the Space-Based Infrared System provides early missile warnings.

“That is fairly unique and … what basically that can detect is the heat generated by missiles as they're launched,” said Marc DeVore, an associate fellow at think tank Chatham House. “There is nothing equivalent in Europe.”

NO SIMPLE STARLINK SWAP FOR UKRAINE, EUROPE

As for Starlink, Europe does not have a ready-made alternative that Ukrainian soldiers could attach to their drones, although European governments and companies are working on long-term options.

Shares in European satellite operator Eutelsat soared on Wednesday following news of Ukraine's difficulties with Starshield, fuelled by investor bets that European providers could benefit from growing strains between Washington and Kyiv.

But Christian Freiherr von der Ropp, an independent satellite consultant, said Eutelsat's OneWeb network was not well suited to wartime use.

"Its current constellation remains rooted in an outdated architecture and technology conceived a decade ago, without any evolution of its underlying design," he said.

"Capacity and performance constraints, combined with the cost, weight, bulk and power consumption of its user terminals, limit its suitability for frontline applications."

Eutelsat did not respond to a request for comment.

Von der Ropp also said switching networks would require replacing thousands of terminals, as Starlink and Starshield terminals use proprietary technology and could not simply connect to OneWeb.

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Bohdan Sas, co-founder of Ukrainian defence technology startup Buntar Aerospace, said the sudden interruption to Starshield services "highlights to almost every end user both in Ukraine and abroad you can’t rely solely on one solution that can be switched off.”

“You need to have some kind of sovereign capabilities," he added, so that "you are not subject to somebody’s mood today.”

Fears of over-reliance on US defence technology have grown in Europe in recent years, as Trump has threatened to quit the NATO military alliance just as European leaders see Russia posing the greatest threat to the continent in decades.

European Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said at a conference hosted by Politico in Brussels on Wednesday that the continent was "quite dependent on American space capabilities.”

“The answer to that situation is to develop our own capabilities,” he added, mentioning the European Union's planned satellite constellation IRIS² and urging European countries to work together to avoid frustration.

But that project is years from becoming operational even if everything goes according to plan, causing frustration among European government officials. Germany is developing its own military satellite constellation.