韩媒综述：乌克兰授予马斯克特别奖章，欧盟加速主权卫星星座IRIS²扩至348颗（协议实际于约一个月前签署），韩国2035年LEO卫星通信路线图呼声升温

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, recently received a special medal from the Ukrainian government. The award formally recognized the contribution that Starlink, SpaceX's low-Earth-orbit satellite internet service, made to Ukraine's security and defense after Russian forces destroyed key base stations, fiber-optic cables and other ground communications infrastructure following the outbreak of war in 2022. Yet the more influence Starlink exerts in an actual war, the more urgency one region feels. That region is the European Union. Below is a look at the EU's push to build its own satellite network in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
Going back to the early phase of the war, once Starlink was activated over Ukrainian skies, frontline military commanders were able to share battlefield conditions in real time through Starlink terminals and coordinate strike coordinates. In particular, they caught Russian forces off guard by conducting drone operations remotely. Drones are regarded as the key weapon that turned the tide in the war in Ukraine. With ground infrastructure devastated, a low-Earth-orbit satellite network completely transformed the character of modern warfare.
But Starlink also carried clear risks. In December 2022, Musk abruptly denied Starlink service to Ukrainian forces in certain combat zones, including areas near the Crimean Peninsula, based on his own judgment that he was concerned about escalation and nuclear war. That directly disrupted military operations, derailing a surprise Ukrainian operation that relied on naval drones.
The episode laid bare how devastating a security gap can be when a country depends entirely on a company beyond its control for critical security infrastructure. As a result, this series of wartime developments is serving as a powerful driver pushing the EU to urgently accelerate construction of a sovereign satellite communications network that it can operate independently, without being shaken by outside intervention or shifts in corporate policy.
Indeed, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, concluded negotiations on an implementation agreement for the full deployment of IRIS² early last month and held a signing ceremony together with the European Space Agency (ESA), the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and European aerospace companies. IRIS² — Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite — is the EU's own satellite communications network project.
The most striking change in the agreement is that IRIS²'s scale and communications capacity have been expanded significantly beyond the initial design to respond to a rapidly shifting security environment. Under the new agreement, 66 additional satellites, including low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, will be deployed. The total core constellation will grow substantially to 348 satellites, including 330 in low Earth orbit and 18 in medium Earth orbit. The aim goes beyond simply widening communications coverage: it is to maximize the capacity to counter jamming and cyberattacks by hostile states.
Through this expansion, secure communications capacity for government agencies within the EU is expected to increase 60% from the previous plan. That amounts to a dramatic improvement in Europe's ability to carry out independent military and administrative missions needed for crisis response. The EU has finalized a detailed roadmap to launch its first satellites by 2029 and to begin full operational connectivity services in stages.
The key question is funding. The EU is making an all-out effort to secure financing by drawing large voluntary investments from member states on top of the EU budget allocated from 2028 to 2034. The urgency is especially palpable among countries that are geographically close to Russia and feel the security threat firsthand. Poland has pledged an additional 656 million euros and Hungary 500 million euros. Spain has thrown its weight behind the project with a national investment of as much as 1.6 billion to 2 billion euros. The EU has often stumbled on joint projects over national budget disputes, but on security there is a mood of unity.
The IRIS² project, pursued as a public-private partnership (PPP), is led by the SpaceRISE consortium, made up of Europe's three largest satellite operators — SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat. They have been joined by leading local space and defense companies including Airbus Defence and Space and Thales. Rodrigo da Costa, executive director of EUSPA, said the move into IRIS²'s implementation phase is "a major leap forward for Europe's space and secure connectivity ecosystem."
The war in Ukraine has turned sovereign space infrastructure into a core element of sovereignty that determines a nation's survival and security. South Korea has laid out a roadmap to build its own low-Earth-orbit satellite communications network by 2035, and calls are growing for it to move faster.