Europe launches a space defense battle as three major communication satellite operators join forces to challenge Starlink.

On March 26, Jin10 reported that after the United States threatened to cut Starlink’s broadband service in Ukraine, Europe proposed to fund a local company as an alternative to Starlink. Miguel Panduro, CEO of the Spanish communication satellite operator Hispasat, stated that the EU has requested Hispasat, European satellite operator Eutelsat, and global satellite operator SES to provide a “list” of services for Ukraine. In recent weeks, the prospect of Europe promoting space sovereignty has boosted the stock prices of communication satellite operators. However, even with EU funding, success is not guaranteed. Industry experts have stated that there is no single European network that can replicate Starlink’s services. Instead, Europe’s solution will be pieced together from satellites in different orbits, offering varying performance and requiring different user terminals for different network demands. Panduro said, “Today, Starlink is irreplaceable. But perhaps there are alternatives that can help alleviate this capability gap without becoming substitutes.”