The topic of European satellite communications is beginning to take an increasingly central place on the EU agenda, a number of publications write in their analyses and reports on the topic after Elon Musk's threats to stop internet access via "Starlink" (Starlink) on the front line in Ukraine.
In support of the bloc's less developed satellite operators, the European Commission's White Paper on Defence last week stated that Brussels "should... fund Ukrainian (military) access to services that could be provided by EU-based commercial providers," the Financial Times reported.
Miguel Angel Panduro, chief executive of Spanish satellite communications company Hispasat, told the British newspaper that Brussels had asked satellite operators Eutelsat (Eutelsat) and SES to present a list of possible services that could be used by Ukraine.
Against this backdrop, the prospect of the EU's more intense involvement in the satellite race and the fight for space sovereignty has boosted the shares of the heavily indebted operators mentioned above in recent weeks.
However, the "Financial Times" notes that even with EU funding, success will not be easy.
This is because "Satrlink" already has a network of nearly 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit (a belt above the Earth's surface that is 200 to 1,200 kilometers away from it), which allows it to provide an Internet connection with low latency (an indicator of the performance of a computer network connection that determines the speed of data packet transfer between different points or nodes in it - ed. note)
In addition, their number is planned to reach nearly 12,000 in the coming years, offering compact terminals for communication with the satellites that the Ukrainian army uses to tie them to reconnaissance drones that transmit the obtained information in real time.
Another advantage is that "Starlink" uses for its development the launch services available from the parent company "SpaceX" (SpaceX), "everything has changed completely", said Jean-Baptiste Tepeau, director of space consultancy "Novaspace".
Against this backdrop, European companies have a total of about 700 satellites in different orbits - medium Earth orbit (from 2,000 meters to 35,700 meters) and geostationary orbit, which is located 35,786 meters above sea level. Thus, European companies that offer satellite internet require larger connection terminals, and their latency is often high.
Most of these satellites belong to "OneWeb", a company acquired by "Eutelsat", with their larger terminals costing between 5,000 and 10,000. dollars (at $500 for Starlink terminals), all of which makes their use by Ukraine and others who want it more challenging.
This leads Panduro to say that there is no complete replacement for Starlink today, but there may be alternatives that, without being a replacement, can help alleviate the lack of these capabilities.
However, Panduro believes that Europe has something to offer Ukraine even in this situation. The Financial Times points out that Kiev could use two European networks aimed primarily at military and intelligence purposes - the Luxembourg-based GovSat-1 and the Spanish Hisdesat.
While the idea of expanding a European satellite network is not new, the reason for its increasingly frequent mention was comments by Musk, who earlier this month said that the entire Ukrainian front would collapse, if he stops "Starlink". He later corrected his statement and said "he would never do it".
However, his insinuations have caused concern in the EU, with his latest outburst leading to Italy cooling off towards the idea of concluding a deal worth more than 1.5 billion euros with "Starlink".
"Negotiations for a contract between Elon Musk's satellite internet operator "Starlink" and Italy are at a standstill, reflecting wider geopolitical tensions," Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said late last week.
Earlier today, the CEO of "Eutelsat" Eva Berneke told members of the French parliament that Italy was already considering a tender for a satellite communications provider.
She also pointed out that "Starlink" ties Italy very closely to the United States, but as you saw with Ukraine, this requires continuing good relations with Elon Musk in order to preserve sovereignty, Reuters reported.
Last week, she told AFP she was confident that the company she represents could replace "Starlink" in terms of Ukraine's satellite connectivity, despite the smaller number of satellites deployed.
During her hearing, Berneke spoke about the European Union's planned system for secure satellite communications, IRIS 2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite - IRIS 2), which is to be built by the company she represents in a consortium with SES and "Ispasat". Its launch was given at the end of last year.
In this regard, Berneke said that she would rely on financing to be able to launch the necessary satellites into orbit through the company "Airbus".
But this EU system is planned to be deployed in space after 2027 and to be functional from 2030. It will consist of 264 satellites in low Earth orbit and 12 in medium Earth orbit, which will be used for government and commercial communications. The amount needed for this is currently estimated at around $10 billion, a large part of which will be provided by European funding.
Against this background, the EC's desire for a European alternative to "Starlink" presented "an unexpected opportunity, but it will not be easy and it will not be enough" to resolve questions about the long-term future of European satellite operators, said Pierre Lionnet, research director at the trade organization "ASD Eurospace".