Eutelsat can't match Starlink's scale in Ukraine, CEO admits

Ukraine has no viable alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink network for secure satellite communications, Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told Politico on April 7, despite ongoing efforts to build up alternative capacity.

Berneke acknowledged that Eutelsat — a French satellite operator providing limited service to Ukraine through a German government-funded distributor — cannot yet match Starlink's scale.

"If we were to take over the entire connectivity capacity for Ukraine and all the citizens, — we wouldn't be able to do that. Let's just be very honest," she said.

While Eutelsat's OneWeb network has begun supporting Ukrainian government operations with fewer than 1,000 active terminals, the company aims to scale up to 5,000–10,000 units.

This remains far behind the estimated 50,000 Starlink terminals active across Ukraine, serving military, medical, and civilian sectors.

Berneke also raised concerns over the geopolitical risks of relying on a single private provider. "Working with Starlink is a dependence that can be decided in the White House or Mar-a-Lago," she said, referencing U.S. President Donald Trump's residence.

Those concerns have grown amid reports that Washington may use Starlink access as leverage. In February, Reuters reported the U.S. had threatened to cut the service unless Ukraine signed a critical minerals deal.

Tech billionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied these claims, and on March 9, he claimed that cutting Ukraine off from Starlink would cause the country's entire front line to collapse.

Uncertainty deepened following a Feb. 28 meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to a temporary halt in U.S. aid and intelligence sharing while the White House pushed Kyiv toward negotiations with Moscow.

Eutelsat was in talks with the European Union on potentially expanding its services to reduce Ukraine's dependence on Musk's network, Bloomberg reported on March 6.

The company's hybrid satellite approach, combining low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, could support military operations, including drone attacks, if scaled.