On October 24, 2026, Ars Technica reported that Ukraine’s military-grade Starlink service had been restored. Ukraine’s Defence Ministry separately says its monitoring systems record restored Starlink and Starshield operating speed, with stable connectivity at movement speeds above 400 km/h. On October 22, the Ministry, Nokia Defense and ICEYE signed a letter of intent to explore space cooperation, particularly the Ministry’s satellite-communications capabilities.
What Ukraine’s service update says
The Defence Ministry’s statement describes stable connectivity while moving faster than 400 km/h. It gives a current operating-status update; the 400 km/h figure is the movement speed associated with the Ministry’s observation.
During the earlier restriction period, Ars Technica reported throttling above about 160 km/h, while Michael Kofman described instability around 130 km/h. Those figures refer to the earlier restrictions, not the Ministry’s later status update.
What the agreement with Nokia Defense and ICEYE covers
The October 22 letter of intent commits the parties to explore cooperation in space, with a focus on developing the Defence Ministry’s satellite-communications capabilities. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, separately said Ukraine had agreed with Finland to make greater use of Finnish satellite capabilities and had discussed cooperation with Nokia and ICEYE.
The letter sets out an exploratory step. It concerns potential satellite communications for Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, rather than a system already in operation.
The 2028 plan is for a broader program
ICEYE and Nokia expect the first communications satellites in their broader government-focused low Earth orbit (LEO) program to launch in 2028. The program concept includes satellites, ground infrastructure and ruggedized user terminals, with participating nations intended to own and control those parts of the system. Ars Technica reported that the companies envision up to 50 satellites a year beginning in 2028.
That launch outlook and satellite target belong to the broader program, not a Ukrainian deployment timetable or allocation.
Ukrainian companies describe different communications backups
A BlueBird Tech representative told Ars Technica that some of the company’s Zhakh FPV drones use fiber-optic communications and that the company avoids making its products critically dependent on Starlink. The representative also said some product configurations have no direct Starlink replacement.
Bohdan Sas, cofounder of Buntar Aerospace, told Ars Technica that the Starlink and Starshield disruptions did not affect the company’s operations because it had prepared for service loss. Ars Technica described Buntar-3 as able to integrate Starlink alongside alternative communications.
