rear space x Kiev is looking for alternatives after restrictions on Ukraine’s Starlink and StarShield satellite internet services have led to fast-moving drones being disconnected and falling from the sky.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday that it has signed a letter of intent to develop new defense and satellite communications capabilities in partnership with Finnish high-tech company Nokia and satellite manufacturer ICEYE.
“Modern warfare proves that reliable communications is a matter of national security,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement. “We all have to rely on our ability to control.”
President Zelenskyy this week announced a partnership with Norway to jointly develop an air defense and communications system to replace Starshield.
As of Friday, Ukrainian officials said the country still had restrictions on Starlink, cutting off connections for drones and other aircraft flying at speeds exceeding 160 miles per hour.
Both the Trump administration and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have avoided responsibility for unannounced Starlink service changes that Ukraine reported more than a week ago. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that he would ask Musk to lift restrictions.
SpaceX executives did not respond to requests for comment.
U.S. lawmakers from both parties are calling for a formal investigation into Musk and SpaceX over allegations that the companies made unilateral changes to their services in Ukraine.
Jay Shambaugh, a senior fellow at Brookings University and a professor of economics and international affairs at George Washington University, told CNBC in an email that Starlink’s sudden change is “part of a pattern since President Trump returned to office as president of the United States as an unreliable ally.”
“Over time, U.S. exports to the EU could decline if the U.S. does not want to rely on something that can cut off the EU,” Shambaugh warned.
Starlink’s rival is at hand. Amazon’s TeraWave, the upcoming service from LEO, France’s Eutelsat, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, has yet to deploy its first satellite.
In addition to Ukraine, several other countries are considering sovereign satellite communication systems. The EU is building IRIS², a constellation of several hundred satellites, but the first launch is not scheduled until 2029.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, venture and private equity investors have poured about $8 billion into Starlink and StarShield alternatives, according to research by Chad Anderson, CEO of Space Capital, which tracks industry transactions. Approximately $3.9 billion of this funding went to Starlink’s potential competitors, primarily Spacesail and China SatNet.
Virginia Berger, senior defense policy analyst at the Government Oversight Project, said in an interview with CNBC that the problem today is that there is no immediate replacement for Starlink, and combat is moving toward “unmanned systems, drone warfare, and other systems that require high-speed internet.”
–CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed reporting.
WATCH: President Trump reportedly called Musk and asked him to lift restrictions on Starlink in Ukraine
