The European Union intends to finance the development of a satellite system that could become an alternative to the American Starlink network, which provides satellite communications in Ukraine. The reason for this step was reports that the United States is considering the possibility of disconnecting this critical infrastructure for Kyiv in the event of failure of negotiations on access to Ukrainian mineral resources. The EU plans became known from the draft White Paper on Defense, prepared by the European Commission, which emphasizes the need to support Ukraine through European commercial solutions. However, experts are already warning that none of the existing networks in Europe is capable of fully repeating the capabilities of Starlink, which forces Brussels to look for unconventional ways.

According to the EU's plan, the new system will be a combination of satellites deployed in different orbits - low, medium and geostationary. This approach will create a flexible network with different types of terminals, adapted to the needs of both military and civilian users. It is assumed that this structure will be able to partially compensate for the lack of Starlink, providing communication for key facilities - from government agencies to hospitals. However, experts emphasize that even the joint efforts of European operators will not provide the level of coverage and speed that the American network with its more than 7 thousand satellites provides.