If Elon Musk Starlink eliminates Ukraine, is there an alternative? The French Eutelsat says he is ready but has some disadvantages

In recent years it has served as a lifeline of the Ukrainian armed forces: the Starlink satellite network that provides Ukraine with mobile internet. But the US turning under President Donald Trump continues uncertain to the internet service. Earlier this week, Trump suspended military support for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian communication on the front lines is largely via this mobile internet service of SpaceX, the space company of Elon Musk. CommandeCentra communicate via Starlink with units on the battlefield, soldiers guide attack drones and get images of troops from observation pons. Most Ukrainian army units have their own Starlink antenna.

SpaceX made the Starlink network accessible to Ukraine in 2022 shortly after the Russian invasion, when the internet and telephone network was largely flattened. The network, with 6,382 satellites that circle around the earth at a height of 400 kilometers, is an integral part of the Ukrainian military infrastructure. Last year the Ukrainian government reported that the country is in use about 42,000 Starlink dishes for satellite traffic, divided between the armed forces, hospitals, companies and aid organizations. Roughly half of that is paid by Poland.

But billionaire Musk, Trump’s main adviser, has started to turn more and more against Ukraine in recent years. In 2022, Musk eliminated the Starlink network once when Ukrainian sea Gears at the occupied Peninsula De Krim seemed to carry out an attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Musk later said he was worried that the attack would lead to a great escalation.

Last month American government officials According to Reuters news agency, threatened to eliminate the network if Kyiv did not accept the American proposal for a raw material agreement Between Ukraine and the US, but Musk denied that.

If Starlink is lost, is there an alternative?

‘The stock price of Eutelsat in the past week’

‘Not the same capacity’

The French satellite communication company Eutelsat says it is ready to take over the internet traffic in Ukraine. “We have been active in Ukraine since the start of the crisis,” says Eva Berneke, director of Eutelsat in an interview with the French television program GoodMorning Business. “Oneweb today offers the same as Starlink, the same service level, but not the same capacity.”

Oneweb is the British competitor of Starlink who took over Eutelsat in 2023. It has 634 operational satellites in a low track around the earth. The Eutelsat stock price, reported the television program, so hard in the past week. But can 634 Oneweb satellites take over the function of ten times as many Starlink satellites?

Not entirely, Berneke acknowledges, but numbers of satellites do not say everything. “A big difference is that we fly at a larger height, about 1,200 kilometers, and she [Starlink] at 400 kilometers. ” Satellites in lower jobs are much faster, and cover a much smaller area each. That is why Oneweb needs far fewer satellites to operate the same surface.

On the other hand, Starlink a lower one latency offers: the time it takes for signals to travel back and forth. This is due to the pure travel time of the radio signals, with the speed of light, but also by the electronics on board, and the route that the signals make through the satellite networks.

A low latency is especially important for managing drones. Satellite images are used to reduce drones to soldiers, vehicles, ships and trenches in a setting that looks a lot on a computer game. Just as for gamers: the lower the latency, the better it goes. For Starlink, the Latency is 25 milliseconds versus 70 milliseconds for Oneweb.

That difference is also not that big, says space expert Erik Laan, teacher at the Hogeschool Inholland. Latency is also the most important thing for the smallest, most agile drones, which often communicate via a direct radio connection, not via satellites.

Ease of use is important

Another problem is the total amount of data that can be sent per second over Ukraine. The capacity of Oneweb is 23 to 490 times lower than that of Starlink, calculated the Argentinian satellite consultant Carlos Placido in a rough calculation.

“The capacity can still be increased, the network still has some flexibility,” reports a spokesperson for Eutelsat on request. Moreover, Eutelsat also has 35 geostationary satellites at a height of 36,000 kilometers that can send data and video, albeit with a high latency, but also with high bandwidth. “They are not yet working above Ukraine but can be used fairly quickly.” Launching extra Oneweb satellites is not on the program.

But the most acute question is the number of antennas: compared to the 42,000 Starlink antennas in Ukraine there are a few thousand OneWeb antennas. Conversations about supplement being in full swing, Berneke said in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency. “We do not make our own antennas but there are a number of suppliers. We are talking to them about the increase in production. We also have a few thousand terminals in stock ourselves and are now looking at how we can get them in Ukraine as quickly as possible. ” According to Berneke, it would be supplementing to tens of thousands of antennas for months, “but a tripling is already possible in weeks.”

However, the Oneweb antennas are not entirely comparable to those of Starlink, warns satellite communication expert Stefano Speretta of TU Delft. “The Starlink antennas are aimed at consumers and are super user-friendly: it is a flat plate, 30 by 50 cm, and you don’t have to focus it.”

Many Oneweb Antenels are satellite angle that must be focused precisely, although there are also flat versions. They are also bigger and heavier, says Speretta. It is precisely in military applications that user ease, weight and dimensions are important. Speretta: “Another problem is the price: a Starlink antenna costs between 500 dollars, a normal OneWeb terminal 20,000.”

Eventually, the Oneweb capacity will be part of Iris2, the satellite constellation in which the European Union inserts 10.6 billion euros, and which must be online from 2030. The Oneweb satellites must be supplemented with 292 satellites at different heights that offer secure connections for European companies and governments.

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