Europe's Eutelsat to help replace Starlink in Ukraine?

EUTELSAT'S stock price has more than quadrupled since a public row on February 28 between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, after which Washington paused military aid to Ukraine. Eutelsat already supports government and institutional communications in Ukraine, and told Reuters it can provide an alternative for certain government and defence applications. Here is a summary by Reuters of how Eutelsat might help Ukraine meet its communication needs.

Eutelsat OneWeb Form World’s 1st GEO-LEO Comms Operator.

Source: Orbital Today 29 Sep 2023

Space Security Conference: Negotiating European Space Sovereignty In The New World Order. Source: Orbital Today 10 Mar 2025 

___________________________

Report from Reuters
By Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Gianluca Lo Nostro in Gdansk; 

Additional reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz; Editing by Kevin Liffey
Dated Friday, 7 March 2025 6:36 PM GMT - full copy:

Explainer: Could Europe's Eutelsat help to replace Starlink in Ukraine?

The logo of the European satellite operator Eutelsat is pictured at the company's headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, August 17, 2022. Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

STOCKHOLM/GDANSK, March 5 (Reuters) - Suggestions that Ukraine could lose access to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet system, which has been vital in maintaining its military communications as it fights Russia's invasion, have focused investor interest on Starlink's smaller European rival Eutelsat (ETL.PA).

.

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last month that the United States might use Starlink access as a lever in talks with Kyiv about its critical minerals, and the Franco-British company has said it is talking to the EU about providing additional services to Ukraine.

Eutelsat's stock price has more than quadrupled since a public row on February 28 between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump, after which Washington paused military aid to Ukraine.

Here is a summary of how Eutelsat might help Ukraine to meet its communication needs:

HOW CRUCIAL IS STARLINK TO UKRAINE?

Starlink users access the internet for data or voice communication by using a small satellite dish to bounce signals off a constellation of satellites overhead.

Ukraine's fixed-line and mobile networks have been badly damaged by bombing since Russia invaded in February 2022, and Starlink has helped Kyiv to fill the void by sending tens of thousands of its dishes with terminals.

Some are made available to civilians, often trying to contact relatives on smartphones.

But most are used by Ukraine's armed forces, which also have to contend with heavy signal jamming and interception of communications on the front lines. Ukrainian units often talk to each other via Starlink, and its services have become virtually indispensable for battlefield command and control.

Ukraine also used Starlink to guide attack drones until Musk's rocket firm SpaceX curbed the practice two years ago.

Originally, SpaceX helped to fund provision of Starlink to Ukraine. The U.S. government then took over, though last month Poland said it had been paying Ukraine's Starlink subscription and would continue to do so.

HOW DOES EUTELSAT COMPARE TO STARLINK?

Eutelsat already supports government and institutional communications in Ukraine, and told Reuters that it can provide an alternative for certain government and defence applications.

Since its merger in 2023 with Britain's OneWeb, Eutelsat controls the only operational global-coverage constellation, besides Starlink, of satellites in low earth orbit (LEO).

Starlink's more than 7,000 LEO satellites, suited to real-time communication, allow it to reach more users around the world and offer higher data speeds.

But Eutelsat says that, even with only 630 or so LEO satellites, backed up by 35 linked satellites in higher, geostationary orbit, it offers the same capabilities as Starlink in Europe.

Starlink promises broadband at up to 200 megabits per second, Eutelsat 150.

OneWeb terminals, however, cost as much as $10,000, plus a monthly subscription price. Starlink charges Ukrainian users a one-time payment of $589 in addition to a monthly subscription of $95-$440, depending on the usage.

It is not known whether any donor would offer to fund more Ukrainian OneWeb subscriptions. France and Britain, which are spearheading a peace deal to present to the U.S., hold a combined 24.8% stake in Eutelsat Group.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER ALTERNATIVES?

Global competition to Starlink is shaping up, but slowly.

Luxembourg-based SES (SESFg.LU) delivers some satellite services to the Western NATO defence alliance via its medium earth orbit constellation of O3b mPOWER satellites.

But like many other legacy satellite operators, it prioritises corporate customers, governments and militaries, offering no direct-to-consumer services, with terminals that are not consumer-friendly.

Some EU initiatives such as IRIS² (pronounced 'Iris squared') and GOVSATCOM - which Kyiv is interested in - will take years to become fully operational.

(This story has been corrected to say 'sources familiar with the matter,' not 'negotiators,' in paragraph 2)

The Technology Roundup newsletter brings the latest news and trends straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

View original and video (02:56 min) here: https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/could-europes-eutelsat-help-replace-starlink-ukraine-2025-03-05/

___________

Related

From Times of India

Dated 11 March 2025

How and why Elon Musk's public spat with Poland FM led to almost 400% jump in stock price of Europe's Starlink rival

Eutelsat's stock skyrocketed nearly 390% last week due to speculation it may replace SpaceX's Starlink in Ukraine. The French satellite company is exploring an expanded role in Ukraine and is negotiating with the EU to bolster internet services. ... Eutelsat, Europe's rival to Elon Musk's Starlink, has seen ...

Full story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/118888047.cms

End

Europe's Ariane 6 commercial rocket launch today boosts Europe's access to space, cuts SpaceX reliance

EUROPE moves to cut SpaceX reliance with first commercial launch of Ariane 6 today carrying French military observation satellite. The launch bolsters Europe's access to space. See video and two reports below.

Report from Reuters online

By Tim Hepher; Editing by Toby Chopra

Published 6 March 2025 - full copy:

Europe's Ariane 6 stages first commercial launch

(Reuters) - Europe's newest uncrewed heavy launcher blasted off on a delayed mission to carry a French military observation satellite towards orbit on Thursday in its first commercially operational launch.

The Ariane 6 rocket lifted from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 1:24 p.m. local time (1624 GMT), live webcast images showed, following two earlier postponements.

View original: 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/europes-ariane-6-stages-first-163328647.html

__________________________

Report from The Next Web online

Published 6 March 2025 - excerpt:

Europe moves to cut SpaceX reliance with Ariane 6 launch today

The first commercial launch of Ariane 6 bolsters Europe's access to space

Caption: "New launch date for CSO-3. The investigations carried out on the ground means interfacing with the launcher, following the launch attempt on March 3, now enable Arianespace to target a launch on March 6, 2025, at 1:24 p.m. local time in Kourou, French Guiana (4:24 p.m. UTC, 5:24 p.m. CET). Ariane 6 and its passenger, the CSO-3 satellite, are in stable and safe conditions."

Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Europe has been unable to access Soyuz rockets. Meanwhile, the retirement of the Ariane 5 in 2023 and delays to the new Vega-C small-launch vehicle left the continent without independent access to space. Europe was forced to rely on Elon Musk’s SpaceX for over a year. 

Read more: https://thenextweb.com/news/europe-to-cut-spacex-reliance-with-ariane-6-launch

End 

RSF's future plans for parts of Darfur, Sudan

NOTE that the following report is over three and a half years old.

From Lighthouse Reports

By Klaas Van Dijken, Nouska du Saar 

Published 19 February 2020 - here is a full copy:

Sudan’s violent new rulers

Traveiling with perpetrators of Darfur atrocities illuminates self-styled saviors

After Sudan’s long-serving dictator Omar al-Bashir was toppled by protesters in 2019, the country was back in the headlines early in 2020 when its transitional government handed him to the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes. Bashir’s alleged crimes took place in the western region of Darfur between 2003 and 2008 after he tasked a notorious Arab militia with crushing an insurgency by African tribes with the backing of the Sudanese army. Known then as the Janjaweed, or “devils on horseback,” these fighters have since restyled themselves as the Rapid Support Forces. Their leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – better known as Hemedti – has also rebranded himself, as the guardian of democratic transition in Sudan. His influence stretches from Sudan’s borderlands to the capital, Khartoum, where he shakes hands with world leaders. But a guided tour through a sleepy desert city reveals how Bashir’s heir apparent really sees Sudan’s future, and exposes the devastation and division wreaked by his forces.

METHODS

Combining a range of research methods including travel writing and traditional war reporting with the analysis of satellite imagery, this investigation seeks to shine a torch on the true violent nature of Sudan’s self-professed democratic guardian, and his paramilitary force. Embedded with members of Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces in a tour to remote parts of North Darfur, we secretly collected coordinates of areas being targeted by Hemedti’s paramilitary forces. Extending the investigation, we obtained and analyzed leaked documents on future plans of Hemedti and his forces for parts of Darfur. To corroborate our findings and deepen our insights, we also interviewed confidential sources in secret locations  and spoke to  Hemedti himself in his luxury residence in the capital Khartoum. Finally we analyzed satellite imagery of destroyed villages in North Darfur and linked them to reports of attacks by the paramilitary group.

STORYLINES

Our reporter travelled to Zurrug, an outpost of Darfur so remote that it has yet to appear on Google maps.  A desert outpost whose sparse shacks are illuminated by campfires that throw shadows over pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns – the only hint of the violent past of this city-in-the-making in Sudan’s troubled western province.

The town is under the control of Sudan’s most powerful man, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or  Hemedti., head of a paramilitary group that was one of the world’s notorious militias, the janjaweed, or devils on a horseback. Flanked by his fighters, rebranded as Rapid Support Forces, Hemedti plans to build a city on the spoils of a brutal war, according to official plans that may rely on funding from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to materialize.

But community leaders from camps in North Sudan claim to have been violently driven off land they had inhabited for centuries by Hemedti’s henchmen. They are among hundreds of thousands scattered across camps in Darfur who claim to have been violated and forced from their homes by the RSF after bearing the brunt of the war crimes ascribed to Bashir.

Satellite images have revealed the extent of the destruction wreaked by Hemedti’s fighters to villages to date, attacks corroborated by independent media and other sources.

Although Hemedti insists he has the best interests of all the Sudanese people at heart — claims he pressed during an exclusive interview — the grand plans of Bashir’s would-be successor for Zurrug rather point to a a winner-takes-all vision that could spell new upheaval for the strife-torn nation. Already disenfranchised ethnic groups, their appeals for a resolution snubbed, are warning of armed insurrection.

COPUBLISHED WITH

Trouw

The Guardian

Co-publications from this investigation

• The Guardian: Blood, sand and gold: victor’s city rises from ashes of Sudan’s civil war
• Trouw: Built on stolen land
• Trouw: He wants to do the right thing for Sudan - he says

View original: https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/sudan-violent-new-rulers/#impact

[Ends]

Sudan: Corpses left lying around El Geneina, W Darfur

Report at BBC News Topics, Sudan

By BBC Verify

Published Friday 23 June 2023 at 16:33 - here is a full copy:

Evidence of dead bodies left lying around Sudanese city

BBC

Copyright: BBC

One video showed bodies lying in the middle of a street

Image caption: One video showed bodies lying in the middle of a street

The BBC has seen evidence supporting claims of bodies left lying out in the open after serious violence in the Darfur region of Sudan between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army. In Darfur, some Arab militia groups have supported the RSF.

We have verified two videos from one location in the city of El Geneina posted on Twitter earlier this month showing bodies lying on a road.

We were able to match buildings and objects in the videos to satellite images of El Geneina.

In one video, there is a mention of the local branch of the Bank of Khartoum, which we were also able to locate.

It’s not possible to say either when the videos were filmed or who did the filming.

But one appeared on Twitter around the same time the West Darfur governor Khamis Abakar was killed on 14 June. In this video, the person filming makes derogatory comments about non-Arabs living there.

The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) said this week that corpses remain on the streets, inside homes and in various public places.

Click here to view original. 

[Ends] 

Conflict Observatory - A remote monitoring platform to provide reporting on conflict activity in Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: See launch information in the previous post here at Sudan Watch (Sat 10 June 2023 - 'Public Launch of Sudan Conflict Observatory Monitoring Platform Sudan.ConflictObservatory.org') 

The following press release ends with satellite imagery showing extensive fire-based damage observed at the SAMIL Plumpy'Nut® Production Facility in Khartoum, plus findings and a link to the first report Fri 9 June 2023 published at Conflict Observatory's website.

________________________________

Press Release at Conflict Observatory.org

Dated Friday 9 June 2023 - full copy:

Sudan Conflict Observatory

CONFLICT OBSERVATORY

A remote monitoring platform to provide independent, expert reporting on conflict activity in Sudan.

9 June 2023

Systematic Violations of International Humanitarian and Human RIghts Law, Jeddah Declaration, And 20 MAY Ceasefire

Both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with their aligned paramilitaries have allegedly committed widespread violations of the Jeddah Declaration, the 20 May Ceasefire Declaration, and gross human rights abuses violating International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law (IHL and IHRL). The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab and PlanetScape Ai, members of the Sudan Conflict Observatory, find widespread and targeted humanitarian and human security impacts due to the conflict in Sudan.

Yale HRL has documented significant impacts to human security in Khartoum, North Kordofan, South Darfur, West Darfur, and North Darfur states. Open source reporting shows that communication is declining across Sudan, including Khartoum state and South Darfur. This corresponds with a known attack on Sudatel towers in Nyala. Incidents that damage information communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure, either intentionally or unintentionally, prevent civilians from being able to access humanitarian aid; limit humanitarian organizations ability to assess and respond to needs; and may prevent gross human rights abuses from being documented.

PlanetScape Ai has recorded numerous attacks following the 20th May Ceasefire Declaration. These attacks have been documented using moderate resolution satellite imagery with high resolution imagery and earth-orbiting thermal sensors, in some cases. This evidence includes several damaged buildings and fire incidents in Khartoum from May 23rd to 28th. In El-Geneina, substantial damage to civilian infrastructure from May 14th to 24th has been documented. Several attacks on towns and villages in West and South Darfur from May 18th to 29th have also been recorded in Darfur.

Moreover, PlanetScape Ai has further recorded a considerable shift in Sudan’s population distribution since the onset of the conflict. The population of Khartoum has consistently decreased, while cities in the east like Atbara and Port Sudan have seen a rise in their population. More recently, a significant drop in population has been observed in El Fasher and Nyala following the surge in violence. These population shifts are likely indicative of regional mobility constraints and the migration of residents seeking to escape the violence.

Extensive fire-based damage observed in satellite imagery at the SAMIL Plumpy'Nut® Production Facility in Khartoum

FINDINGS

Widespread and targeted bombardment and destruction of critical infrastructure including water and sanitation facilities, power, and ICT;

Eight (8) confirmed, targeted, and systematic arson attacks reportedly by the RSF across Darfur’s rural villages and urban centers;

Parties to the conflict have engaged in widespread, systematic, and targeted attacks on humanitarian facilities that include the looting of supplies across Sudan;

Widespread and targeted destruction of facilities that constitute protected civilian infrastructure, including marketplaces, civilian neighborhoods, schools, and food production facilities; and

The deployment of roadblocks and checkpoints by both parties to the conflict, impeding freedom of movement of civilians and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

REPORT: English

View original: https://hub.conflictobservatory.org/portal/apps/sites/#/sudan

[Ends]