SpaceX satellite services, which have been restricted in Ukraine, must be fully restored to ensure military communications and protect the civilian population.
This was stated by European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier during a briefing.
"Recent reports that SpaceX has begun restricting its services in Ukraine are deeply concerning and contradict the company's previous practice of providing these services. SpaceX must urgently restore its services to Ukraine in full," the spokesperson stressed.
Regnier emphasised that Ukraine needs this critical connectivity to maintain communications between military units, protect civilians and operate drones used for defence purposes.
At the same time, the European Commission spokesperson pointed out that the war in Ukraine demonstrates how dependent Europe's security has become on the space sector.
"Europe needs to do more in this area — it is an urgent necessity for us. That is why we are actively working on the deployment and development of the IRIS² system," he said.
Regnier explained that the system will consist of a constellation of more than 300 satellites designed to provide reliable satellite communications for both civilian and military purposes.
"And, of course, we will certainly involve Ukraine in this," he added.
The spokesperson also commented on SpaceX's claims that the EU's decision to reallocate frequencies in the 2 GHz band, as part of its proposal on mobile satellite communications, in favour of European operators could allegedly undermine the provision of services to Ukraine.
"Our proposal is absolutely clear: when it comes to secure governmental satellite communications, which may also be used by the military, the operator must be a European company. Full stop. As for the remaining two-thirds of the spectrum, they will be divided equally: one-third for new EU operators, and another third open to both EU operators and companies from other countries," Regnier stated.
He emphasised:
"We must strengthen our sovereignty in this area. This is a critically important sector for us, but at the same time, we certainly remain open to cooperation to some extent."
