Ukraine has officially activated its first independent satellite, OBRIA NANO, marking a critical step toward reducing dependence on Elon Musk's Starlink constellation. The announcement was made on October 27, 2026, by the project's developers, Ukrainian firm HIMERA and Danish manufacturer GomSpace, just three days after Starlink services were fully restored following a contentious ten-day restriction.
The satellite launched on October 1 aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission, which also carried Google AI chips and payloads for dozens of other clients. OBRIA NANO is designed to test technologies that will guide the future construction of a Ukrainian-controlled constellation. Unlike Starlink, which offers global coverage, this new network aims specifically to serve the regional theater of operations in Ukraine.
The urgency of this project stems from recent instability in Starlink's support for Kyiv. On October 14, the Ukrainian military discovered that Starshield, the military division of Starlink used for drone guidance and targeting, had been throttled without prior warning. By October 19, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that terminals were limited to speeds between 130 and 161 km/h in various sectors, a restriction that prevented Ukrainian interceptors from catching Russian jet drones traveling at several hundred kilometers per hour.
Elon Musk initially attributed these speed limits to decisions made by the US military and President of the United States. However, after Washington shifted responsibility back to Musk, he accused Kyiv on October 24 of violating Starlink's terms of service by using the network for offensive drone strikes inside Russian territory, a claim Ukraine denied. Musk had previously stated that if Starlink were cut off, the Ukrainian front line would collapse immediately.
Services were restored to normal levels on October 24, with stable connections exceeding 400 km/h, but the incident served as a stark warning of the risks associated with relying on foreign communication providers. HIMERA CEO Misha Rudominski emphasized that the project goes beyond simply launching a satellite; its primary goal is to reduce Ukraine's dependency on external suppliers.
While OBRIA NANO is now operational, significant details regarding the future constellation remain undisclosed. Neither HIMERA nor GomSpace has revealed specific characteristics, capacity, funding sources, or the total number of satellites planned for the network. For context, Starlink currently operates approximately 10,000 satellites. The companies have stated an intention to manufacture both the satellites and ground terminals within Ukraine, though they have not specified who will handle future launches.
The Ukrainian military continues to rely on Starlink and Starshield for civil communications and battlefield drone operations while this sovereign alternative is developed. Additionally, Ukraine faces vulnerabilities in its satellite reconnaissance capabilities, highlighted when a Russian military satellite was detected near the commercial ICEYE-X36 radar satellite used by Kyiv earlier in October. As the country moves forward with OBRIA NANO, it also explores potential integration with European networks like IRIS² and initiatives by major operators such as Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone to connect smartphones directly to satellites.
Sources: Numerama.