Poland aims to create its own equivalent of the Starlink satellite communication system, inducing for the EU countries, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday.
In August, Polish media reported that US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, had excluded Poland from the Starlink European coverage area.
“We are saying that the end result could and will be a Polish Starlink,” Tusk said, addressing representatives of the space industry while visiting a defense industry exhibition in the city of Kielce .
This Polish-developed satellite communication system could potentially be used by EU countries as well, he also said.
“This is not just a matter of our national satisfaction. Anyone observing the war realizes the importance of communications. Without modern communications, there is no place on the battlefield. It appears that Poland will be able to do this and become Europe’s leading nation in building this autonomy,” the Polish prime minister added.
SpaceX has included more than 30 countries in the general European region. The official list includes, among others, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania, as well as France, Spain, Italy, Romania and Norway. The company’s technical documentation clearly states that Poland is not included in the European region. It specifies that accounts registered in Poland are considered intended for use solely within Poland.
Users of standard mobile plans can travel outside the country of registration with their Starlink equipment for a maximum of 30 days. After that, they must return to Poland to reset the counter, switch to a significantly more expensive package or change the country of registration.
The lack of an official explanation from SpaceX sparked speculation in the industry, linking Poland’s exclusion to its support of Ukraine. Industry insiders suggested that SpaceX wanted to prevent uncontrolled transfers, resale or unauthorized use of devices acquired on the Polish market. Around 25,000 Starlink terminals were purchased in Poland and transported to Kiev between 2022 and 2024.