Europe builds its own satellite networks to rival Starlink
European alternatives to Starlink are gaining ground, despite American threats and industrial challenges.
Published on October 22, 2026
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Merien co-founded E52 in 2015 and envisioned AI in journalism, leading to Laio. He writes bold columns on hydrogen and mobility—often with a sharp edge.
Ukraine’s dependence on Starlink for critical communications is an Achilles’ heel. All of Europe is learning that it cannot rely on a system subject to the whims of Trump and Musk. That is why European alternatives to Musk’s Starlink are being fast-tracked. The battle is not only about markets and technology, but also about scarce frequency spectrum. While the US threatens sanctions, Europe is building three major projects: IRIS², Project Bromo and a joint spectrum bid by four telecom giants. These initiatives are meant to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in space.
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Starlink’s unreliability forces Europe to act
In Ukraine, Starlink plays a crucial role in military communications. In recent months, outages have been reported repeatedly. At speeds above 160 km/h, connections dropped out. This caused drones to crash and cost Ukrainian units millions of euros in losses.
The cause of the interruptions remains a matter of speculation, but according to the Wall Street Journal, it appears to lie with Elon Musk. Dependence on an American private company like SpaceX raises questions about long-term reliability. Elon Musk’s political choices and the influence of the US government leave Europe vulnerable. This situation has prompted the EU to accelerate work on its own sovereign satellite networks. Europe of course already has geostationary internet satellite providers; the battle now is over low-orbit services.
The ‘frequency war’ between the US and Europe
Satellites need frequency spectrum to communicate with Earth. The EU wants to reserve certain frequency bands for European companies. Tensions between the US and Europe are rising now that European companies are planning a joint bid for the 2 GHz S-band spectrum. This spectrum will be auctioned in 2027.
The US Ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, is threatening ‘devastating’measures if Europe pushes ahead with plans that could harm Starlink and other American interests. The US sees the European initiatives as a threat to SpaceX and other American players. Europe, however, wants to reserve part of the spectrum for its own providers to safeguard its strategic autonomy. The EU is considering splitting the spectrum into three segments: military, European commercial, and open to international bidders.
At the moment, there are three major players that want to use this spectrum.
IRIS²: Europe’s ambitious answer to Starlink
The IRIS²project (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is the EU’s flagship. Its goal is to build Europe’s own secure satellite network. In August 2026, the European Commission signed an implementation agreement with the SpaceRISE consortium. This consortium is building 348 satellites: 330 in low Earth orbit (LEO) and 18 in medium Earth orbit (MEO). In addition, there will be 66 extra satellites for defense, security and emergency response.
Aerospacelab, a Belgian company, has landed a contract worth €2.4 billion. The company will produce 264 LEO satellites at its factory in Charleroi. This factory is set to reach an annual capacity of 500 satellites in 2027. The first launches are planned for 2029. Operational services will start from 2030.
The Four: telecom giants join forces for spectrum
Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone signed a Letter of Intent in October 2026. They want to bid jointly for the Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum. This initiative focuses on direct satellite communication to mobile phones (Direct-to-Device, D2D). The aim is to strengthen European sovereignty in critical connectivity infrastructure.
The four operators will jointly set up ground infrastructure. They will also select a satellite partner to provide the space infrastructure. The spectrum to be auctioned in 2027 includes the 2 GHz S-band. The target is 21 European markets. AST SpaceMobile, already a Vodafone partner, plays a key role in this.
Project Bromo: a merger to create a European space giant
Project Bromo is a planned merger of the space and satellite divisions of Airbus, Thales and Leonardo. The aim is to form a European space giant that can compete with SpaceX. The new entity will have annual revenue of€6.5 billion and 25,000 employees. The merger is expected to be operational in 2027.
Airbus will take a 35% stake. Thales and Leonardo will each receive 32.5%. The merger involves integrating the space divisions of the three companies, including satellite manufacturing, space systems and defense-related services. Still, there are challenges, such as antitrust reviews and integrating different corporate cultures.
OHB is a German space company specializing in satellite technology. The company already has satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) for communications and Earth observation. OHB is working on its own constellation of small satellites for broadband internet, as an alternative to Starlink. OHB also supplies components for other European projects, such as Galileo. OHB and other European players have criticized Bromo’s potential monopoly position.
Challenges: launch, funding and competition
Despite the progress, major challenges remain. Europe has limited launch capacity. In 2025, the EU carried out only 8 of the 324 space launches worldwide. By comparison, the US carried out 193 launches.
Scaling up quickly is not an option. Manufacturer ArianeGroup’s production line is set up for a base rate of 10 rockets per year. No launch contracts have been signed for IRIS² yet. Amazon has already booked 18 Ariane 6 launches.
Funding is another hurdle. European space companies raised €1.4 billion in 2025, a drop of 8% compared with the previous year. Worldwide, private investment in space rose by 60%. Still, Aerospacelab shows that scaling up is possible. The company became profitable in 2026, even before it won the IRIS²contracts.