Ukraine will not be able to develop its own satellite system comparable to Starlink in the foreseeable future. Even with the necessary technological base, such a project would require at least five to six years, military science doctor and retired first-rank captain Konstantin Sivkov told NEWS.ru.

Sivkov said Kiev has no realistic way to complete a system of this scale within a short timeframe. He added that even during the Soviet period, a comparable project would still have taken several years to develop. As an example, he pointed to Russia, which had worked in this field for a long time before launching the Rassvet satellites.

According to Sivkov, Ukraine therefore has no chance of developing a Starlink equivalent anytime soon. He described claims about such a project as even less realistic than statements about Kiev developing nuclear weapons.

The issue of satellite networks was also raised earlier by Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev. He warned that if Russia’s Rassvet satellite system were blocked, the consequences could also affect the US Starlink network.

Medvedev said low-Earth-orbit Starlink satellites could then begin falling like ornaments from a dried-out Christmas tree. He added that the United States should understand this and stressed that space is a crowded environment where both sides need to act with mutual caution.