Kiev was supposed to fall in a few days, and Ukraine - to be subordinated in a few weeks: When on February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale attack on its neighboring country, it seemed to have underestimated the will of the Ukrainians and their army to resist. And also the degree of international support that Ukraine received immediately.
An important role for defense
This included, not least, the help for the attacked country from “Starlink“ - the satellite network of Elon Musk's SpaceX company. It still plays an important role in Ukraine's defense today, recalls the German public media ARD.
„Starlink“ enables access to the Internet in very remote regions of the Earth, where the communication infrastructure does not function well. Among other things, this requires so-called terminals that establish a connection with the nearest satellite.
In recent years, Ukrainians have taken advantage of these opportunities to the utmost. However, it is doubtful whether they will be able to rely on them in the future. This is because it is claimed that access to „Starlink“ is already being used by US representatives as a means of putting pressure on Ukraine - to make concessions to Russia and sign a contract with the US for its valuable raw materials.
Immediate access after the start of the war
In the first days of the war, Russia had caused serious damage to Ukraine's infrastructure, and on the fifth day, the Ukrainian leadership turned to SpaceX with a request to provide terminals that would allow communication via satellites from the “Starlink“ network. Just two days later, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced that the first terminals had arrived in the country and thanked Musk for this, ARD recalls this story from 3 years ago.
Indispensable when it comes to drones
“Starlink“ has enabled not only the population, municipalities and authorities to continue communicating with each other, but also the military. It is said that currently in Ukraine there are about 42,000 terminals for connecting to the satellite network, according to the Kyiv Independent portal. This allows the Ukrainian army to exchange information even in remote areas and, above all, to use drones on a large scale, which are currently the most important combat tool of the Ukrainian army.
Researcher Juliana Suess from the Berlin-based Foundation “Science and Politics“ told AFP that Ukraine uses relatively simple unmanned aerial vehicles, some of which can be controlled via a secure internet connection provided by “Starlink“ and programs such as Zoom Teams.
Reuters also quoted an unnamed US government official, according to whom Ukraine is literally dependent on “Starlink“. Ukraine expert Melinda Haring was quoted by Reuters as saying that access to Starlink is “essential” to Ukraine’s drone war. Musk himself has described the network as Ukraine’s “communications backbone.”
Who pays for the terminals?
One of the complex aspects of this aid to Ukraine – access to Starlink – is related to financing the terminals and their operation. In September 2022, SpaceX approached the U.S. Department of Defense and informed it that it was unable to provide Ukraine with additional terminals or fund their operation indefinitely.
After lengthy negotiations, the Department of Defense and SpaceX reached an agreement on financing, although details were not disclosed. However, other countries have also joined in. Poland, for example, has financed about 20,000 terminals since last year. Money has been secured until September this year, Warsaw claims.
The limitations of „Starlink“
„Starlink“ cannot be used everywhere, however. The Ukrainian army apparently cannot access the network outside the country's borders - for example, in the Russian Kursk region, where the Ukrainian armed forces launched a counteroffensive last year.
„Starlink“ also apparently takes into account which regions Russia has already conquered or annexed. In 2023 Musk announced that he had rejected Ukraine's request to open the network over the Crimean port city of Sevastopol to allow the Ukrainian military to attack Russian Black Sea Fleet ships stationed there at the time.
At the same time, Musk and other SpaceX representatives have repeatedly emphasized the defensive nature of the use of “Starlink“. In 2023, Musk wrote in the X platform that he would not support any escalation “that could lead to World War III“.
How reliable is Musk's promise?
In a scandalous exchange at the White House in late February, Donald Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of playing with the idea of starting World War III. Shortly after, Trump cut off military aid to Ukraine, and the United States no longer shares intelligence with the country.
Does this mean that Ukraine's access to the satellite communications network could also be cut off in order to force Kiev to make concessions to Russia and the United States? This possibility was allegedly hinted at in several conversations in February when US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and US envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg met with Zelensky, Reuters reported, citing several US government sources.
Elon Musk himself called the information a lie. However, his close ties to Trump, his role in the reorganization of the US authorities and his great interest in state orders for SpaceX raise doubts in Ukraine whether he will remain in this position.
No alternative in sight
For Ukraine, “Starlink“ is indispensable - especially in the short term. According to the company, its 7,000 satellites represent two-thirds of “all active Earth satellites“. Although the EU is working on an alternative to “Starlink“, called IRIS2, the first satellites will not be launched into space until 2030.
The much smaller European competitor to “Starlink“ - Eutelsat - has about 630 satellites. However, the company claims that it provides the same capacity in Europe as “Starlink“. However, the operation of Eutelsat's terminals is many times more expensive than that of the American company.
And Ukraine? It relies - at least officially - on its innovativeness, which it has repeatedly demonstrated during the war. According to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, other ideas are already being worked on: “There is a solution, there are alternatives“, he said, quoted by ARD.
Author: Alexander Freund