Parabolic antenna in the terrestrial network of satellites at Eutelsat’s Madeira office. Photographer: /Bloomberg (via Getty Images)
Zed Jameson Bloomberg via Getty Images
French Satellite Group shares eutelsat This week there has been a sharp increase space xStarShield drew criticism after access to the Ukrainian military’s systems was suddenly restricted.
Tensions between the United States and Ukraine escalated earlier this week after Kiev accused Elon Musk’s SpaceX of imposing new restrictions on the military’s Starlink internet service without warning, restricting connectivity and limiting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from Russian attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticized the United States, saying that “Starlink was powered down” in the middle of the night, which prevented Ukrainian drones from intercepting Russian attacks and ultimately led to the deaths of civilians.
“They knew what they did,” Zelenskiy said. “It’s not an attack. It’s also about protecting lives…People were killed because the destruction wasn’t strong enough and there weren’t enough interceptors, including Starlink interceptors, to work.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded by shifting the blame to the U.S. government, saying the StarShield system is under the control of the U.S. government and President Donald Trump.
Eutelsat shares rose 19% on Friday and have risen 25% in the past five days on news of Starlink’s woes in Ukraine.
Eutelsat stock price for the past 5 days.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note Thursday that this week’s move in Eutelsat stock is further evidence “confirming the sovereign value of Europe’s satellite networks.” Amid the turmoil, the market sees Eutelsat as a “credible Starlink alternative,” it added.
“While we note that Eutelsat offers a global constellation of LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites, we believe it lacks the scale to provide the number of terminals that Starlink can provide,” they added. “Stock prices are expected to give up some of their gains.”
Eutelsat plans to merge with satellite internet provider OneWeb in 2023 to challenge Starlink’s market dominance. But Eutelsat currently has more than 600 satellites in orbit, and Starlink has more than 6,750, according to the company’s website.
Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Reconstruction, Infrastructure and Transport Serhiy Derkach told CNBC on Friday that Russia is stepping up attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure, using restrictions on military applications such as destroying bridges, rail networks and border crossings.
“With the United States restricting the use of Starlink on the battlefield, Russia feels now is the time to inflict more pain and suffering on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure,” Derkach said.
“We are definitely heading into very tough weeks and months, and we need the support of our partners more than ever,” he said, adding that Ukrainians were already experiencing power outages lasting between four and 12 hours a day.
