Ukraine’s battlefield relies on Starlink as EU’s Iris² network remains years away

Ukraine’s military and civilians depend on Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet for real‑time communications and drone operations. A sudden slowdown last week exposed the vulnerability of relying on a single US‑based provider. Alternatives such as France’s Eutelsat/OneWeb constellation, with only about 600 active satellites, lag far behind Starlink’s 10,000‑plus network. The EU is developing a rival system, Iris², but it is not expected to be operational until 2029. Until then, Ukraine can only tap into the EU’s Govsatcom sharing network, which cannot support military‑grade tasks like drone control. Musk warned that cutting Starlink would collapse the Ukrainian front line, highlighting the strategic importance of satellite connectivity in modern warfare.