If Starlink services are disconnected, Poland would be forced to find another satellite communication provider for Ukraine.

Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, stated this.

“Starlinks for Ukraine are paid for by the Polish Digitization Ministry at the cost of about $50 million per year. The ethics of threatening the victim of aggression apart, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers,” the statement says.

In his statement, Sikorski responded to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who had stated that the Starlink system “is the backbone of the Ukrainian army, and everything will collapse if it is turned off.”

Musk did not stop there and, in his response to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, referred to him as a “small man” and stated that “there is no substitute for Starlink.”

He also said that he would not disconnect Starlink and would not use the system as a bargaining chip.

European alternatives to Starlink

Recently, Militarnyi reported that the European Union is in discussions with four European satellite internet providers to explore alternatives to Starlink for Ukraine’s defense forces.

Negotiations are underway with Luxembourg-based SES, Spain’s Hisdesat, British company Viasat, and the French-British operator Eutelsat/OneWeb.

European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier noted that Ukraine has shown interest in switching to alternative systems, particularly GovSatCom – a pooled network of the EU’s existing national government satellite capacity.

The IRIS² satellite constellation has also been considered, but its deployment is not expected until the 2030s.

While IRIS² remains a long-term alternative, it is not viable for an immediate transition if the U.S. system were to be abruptly shut down.

GovSatCom’s initial operational readiness is expected this year but will serve only as an interim solution until IRIS² is fully implemented.