Starlink incident exposes Europe’s dependence

Ukrainian military personnel encountered problems during several operations overnight after SpaceX restricted access to certain Starlink terminals.

The incident highlights how dependent military operations can be on American technology and how vulnerable Europe is when a foreign supplier can influence access to critical infrastructure.

European defence relies on American infrastructure

Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, the American aerospace company founded by Elon Musk. Ukraine uses the service, among other things, to control drones. According to Ukrainian officials, several military missions were disrupted after connections to Starlink terminals on fast-moving drones were interrupted without warning, Reuters reports.

Musk says the US government, through the military and ultimately the president, determines which speed and usage restrictions apply. The incident comes at a time when relations between Washington and Kyiv are under strain: Trump has urged Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries. There are also concerns that the US may share less intelligence that enables Ukraine to detect Russian missile attacks at an early stage.

Strategic autonomy

For Europe, the issue relates to strategic autonomy: the ability to develop and manage essential technology and infrastructure independently. This applies not only to defence, but also to satellite communications, cloud infrastructure, semiconductors and AI.

Developing European alternatives takes time, money and technical expertise. They must also offer sufficient capacity and reliability to replace existing systems.

However, technical reliability is not the only factor. The question of how reliable the United States will remain as a partner is becoming increasingly relevant. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his disappointment with Trump's stance. In an interview, he said that the US president is entitled to remain neutral in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, but should then maintain that position.