The European Fee is assessing methods to assist Ukraine safe satellite tv for pc communications in case entry to the Starlink community is restricted, Politico reported on March 3.
Starlink has performed a significant position in Ukraine's battlefield communications, with round 42,000 terminals offering service to the navy, medical services, companies, and support organizations.
The assessment comes amid stories that the U.S. threatened to chop Ukraine's entry to Starlink if Kyiv didn’t attain a cope with Washington over vital mineral assets.
On Feb. 22, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied that the U.S. had made such a risk.
Ukraine had proven curiosity in different satellite tv for pc choices, together with Govsatcom, a shared community of EU nationwide authorities satellites, and IRIS, a brand new constellation anticipated to be operational within the 2030s, in keeping with European Fee spokesperson Thomas Regnier.
Member of the European Parliament Christophe Grudler urged the EU to "assess all potential different satellite tv for pc options that the EU might supply Ukraine" as a Starlink alternative.
Le chantage américain pour la fourniture du service web par satellite tv for pc Starlink est inacceptable.
Je demande à @EU_Commission d'étudier toutes les options alternate options par satellite tv for pc que l’UE pourrait proposer à l’Ukraine.
Y compris GovSatCom ou des capacités commerciales. pic.twitter.com/H2zblWNpKA— Christophe GRUDLER (@GrudlerCh) February 24, 2025
He recommended that Govsatcom deployment might be expedited this yr by skipping the certification course of and offering a brief answer whereas IRIS is being developed.
SpaceX started supplying Starlink terminals to Ukraine shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion, giving Kyiv a vital benefit in battlefield connectivity.
Musk, whom U.S. President Donald Trump has tasked with eliminating "fraud" and "waste" within the U.S. price range, has grow to be more and more vocal in criticizing Ukraine and amplifying Russian disinformation.
He has additionally referred to as for shutting down the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID), which supplied very important humanitarian support to Ukraine.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova