UASAT is a new satellite internet in Ukraine. Can it be considered an alternative to Starlink?

In the context of a full-scale war, when the terrestrial communication infrastructure is constantly under threat, satellite Internet has become critically important for Ukraine. In this context, the emergence of the UASAT service, initiated by the Ukrainian company Stetman, has caused a significant resonance.

Ukraine currently does not have its own communications satellites. So today we will look at the technology offered by UASAT and whether Ukraine will really have its own Starlink .

In the spring of 2025, the founder of Stetman, Dmytro Stetsenko, stated on his Facebook that UASAT could replace Starlink in Ukraine.

“Thanks to this, Ukraine will have not only alternatives to Starlink, to which we are sincerely grateful for timely technological support and with which we will continue cooperation, but also its own production of satellite equipment,” he writes in the post.

In particular, we are talking about three projects under this brand: UASAT GEO 74, UASAT GEO Blade, UASAT Leo.

And so, for example, the first project is satellite terminals, which, as UASAT positions it, are adapted to field conditions with protection against electronic warfare.

"Solution for stationary or temporary deployment. Integrated to operate on the basis of the Jupiter 3 geostationary satellite," explains the company's CEO in an interview with Mind.

And this is precisely what raises questions, because the enemy actively detects such connections and the geolocation of the terminal.

UASAT GEO Blade, in turn, are terminals that work in motion. To this end, in April 2025, Stetman entered into a partnership with the Swiss company Requtech on the licensed production of terminals for GEO and LEO orbit satellites. In particular, which can operate on the basis of the OneWeb and Intelsat platforms.

However, Dmytro Stetsenko himself claims that OneWeb technologies are not being considered, and to create a constellation of satellites in low orbit, they have chosen, to quote, a “powerful company.” However, what kind of company this is is not advertised.

The statements that Ukraine will receive its “own Starlink” refer to the third project – UASAT Leo, which involves the creation of its own LEO constellation of satellites, requiring an investment of $634 million. The expectations here are very high: complete independence and control over the satellite network. In reality, UASAT will act as a service integrator, using the bandwidth of foreign satellite platforms, so whether this can be called independence remains an open question.

GEO is not LEO: what is the difference?

In essence, this is a confrontation between two fundamentally different technological architectures: geostationary (GEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO).

In particular, they differ in orbital altitude, which directly affects the speed of signal transmission, and this is important.

A GEO satellite is about 36,000 km above Earth, so the signal has a fairly long range. The satellite moves at the same speed as Earth and is located at a fixed point. Because of this distance, the signal delay can be as much as 600–700 milliseconds. This makes GEO systems unsuitable for actions that require instant response, such as controlling drones or making video calls.

Also, the GEO system is characterized by high-speed traffic volume limits, after which the speed drops. Connection stability may depend on network load and weather conditions - and this is typical for GEO communication in general.

At the same time, Starlink operates in low Earth orbit (LEO) at a distance of only 500 km above the Earth, that is, 70 times closer to the subscriber. This provides the opportunity to comfortably conduct video conferences, streams and, most importantly, use systems where reaction speed is required for remote control of tactical military systems. In addition, the Starlink system consists of a constellation of satellites. It works in such a way that signals are transmitted not only between the ground station and the satellite, but also from one satellite to another. Thanks to this, even if one satellite, for example, fails, its work is compensated by others, which increases stability and ensures uninterrupted connection.

Illustration of the difference between GEO and LEO satellites

Price gap between UASAT and Starlink

The issue of tariffs remains a separate topic. Today, UASAT plans are significantly more expensive than those offered by Starlink, where the basic tariff for 50 GB costs $50, and unlimited - $95 per month. UASAT offers several tariff options, which, however, are focused on the high corporate segment.

For example, packages with limited traffic start at 2,904 UAH (about $68) for 50 GB (with a speed of 5 Mbps for upload and 50 Mbps for download) and increase to 7,128 UAH (about $168) for 500 GB (with a speed of 5/100 Mbps). As for unlimited packages, the cost ranges from 5,525 UAH (about $130) for basic unlimited with a speed of 5/10 Mbps to 21,240 UAH (about $499) for maximum unlimited with a speed of 5/100 Mbps.

And in general, the very fact that the company presents the price as an annual subscription, but in fact it is a monthly one, also raises questions.

“The cost of the monthly subscription +20% applies in case of continuous use of the service for less than 12 months,” the company's website states.

The reality of the emergence of an alternative to Starlink in Ukraine

In fact, UASAT cannot be a full replacement for Starlink due to, among other things, technological limitations.

It is clear that the geostationary orbit (GEO) architecture, with its high latency (600–700 milliseconds), is physically unable to provide the response speed that is critical for military tactical operations , where Starlink dominates with 20–40 milliseconds. In addition, despite the statements about the need to have its own, independent alternative, UASAT currently operates on leased satellites from foreign operators, which calls into question the achievement of complete communication independence.

It is also worth remembering the high cost of the equipment, the lack of a service network, and the more expensive tariff plans that automatically provide access to the service only to corporate clients and government agencies. This creates a situation where the claim of an alternative to Starlink clashes with the reality: it is a more expensive, slower-reacting, and technologically dependent resource.

So, despite the fact that UASAT positions itself as a Ukrainian satellite Internet service, the question of whether it is a real replacement for Starlink remains an open question.

After all, services based on geostationary satellites, such as UASAT, have every right to exist in Ukraine. They can be useful as a backup option for hospitals or banks in the deep rear, where speed of response is not critical, but stability is simply needed when everything else is “down.”

But positioning a GEO satellite as a full-fledged replacement for a LEO system in a country at war, where communication is needed primarily for the effective conduct of combat operations, is, to put it mildly, incorrect marketing.

Ultimately, what is more important for Ukraine now: to consider the option of developing its own satellite communications, or to still use the capabilities of the American Starlink?