Working with Starlink “is a dependence that may be determined within the White Home or [Trump’s private residence] Mar-a-Lago,” Eutelsat Chief Government Officer Eva Berneke advised POLITICO. “It is good to have a number of choices.”
However right now’s Starlink options aren’t able to tackle Musk — together with Eutelsat, by Berneke’s personal admission.
“If we had been to take over the complete connectivity capability for Ukraine and all of the residents, we would not be capable to do this. Let’s simply be very sincere,” Berneke mentioned. “However I do assume we are able to present capability for a few of the vital use circumstances of presidency.”
Few corporations have invested in low-earth orbit satellites. Such methods provide quicker connections and decrease latency — essential for real-time operations like drone warfare — however they continue to be pricey and cumbersome to function. Starlink, which is owned by Musk’s SpaceX, leads the market, with Eutelsat as a powerful challenger and others, like Amazon’s Venture Kuiper, nonetheless lagging behind.
“This kind of answer that Starlink is providing is exclusive,” mentioned Christopher Baugh, an area business professional at consulting agency Analysys Mason. Starlink has “damaged boundaries technically” and “stuffed the void, as a result of nothing else was out there,” he mentioned.
With cutting-edge, compact kits and an enormous net of versatile beams, Starlink’s 7,000 satellites dwarf Eutelsat’s 600-strong fleet and relatively clunkier terminals. Musk’s community can offer between 23 and 490 times the capability of Eutelsat over Ukraine, relying on the use eventualities.
