The Power of Starlink Revealed by the Ukraine War: Survival Conditions in the 6G Era

Whose Hands Hold Your Lifeline?

In a disaster scene filled only with darkness and silence, all ground communications have been cut off. You raise your smartphone to the sky, holding onto your last hope. Moments later, the miraculous three words ‘Connected’ appear on the screen—a signal sent from a small satellite orbiting far above in space.

But what if the “switch” controlling that signal is held by a company in another country tens of thousands of kilometers away? If that person flips the switch off based on their own beliefs, your lifeline is instantly severed.

This is not mere imagination. It actually happened in the skies over Ukraine in 2022, marking the beginning of an event that engraved the unfamiliar term ‘orbital sovereignty’ as a matter of survival.

Part 1: Failed Dreams and the Empire’s Revival

The Ambitious Dream of an Old Giant, Iridium

In the 1990s, Motorola, the king of mobile phones, dreamed a grand dream that would be remembered in human history. It was the ‘Iridium’ project—a promise to create a world where calls could be made anywhere on Earth, whether in the middle of the Sahara Desert or the vast Pacific Ocean. This ambitious plan aimed to eliminate communication shadows by tightly linking 66 low Earth orbit satellites, and technically, it was a complete success.

However, this dazzling technical achievement ended in a devastating commercial failure. The reason was simple: it was too expensive. In an era when rockets costing hundreds of billions of won were launched once and discarded, the cost was passed directly to consumers. No one could afford a brick-sized phone costing millions of won and call rates of thousands of won per minute. People chose much cheaper terrestrial roaming services instead. Ultimately, Iridium went bankrupt, leaving only the bitter lesson of the ‘curse of advanced technology.’

The Savior Who Rekindled the Fading Flame

When everyone thought low Earth orbit satellite communication was over, an unexpected savior appeared: the U.S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon. They immediately recognized the strategic value of Iridium, which could operate reliably in the sky even if ground networks were paralyzed by war or disaster. With Pentagon support, Iridium miraculously survived, setting an important precedent that commercial communication systems can become the heart of national security at any time.

The Hero Leading the Renaissance, Starlink

Twenty years later, we witness the brilliant revival, a ‘renaissance’ of low Earth orbit satellites. At its center is Elon Musk’s ‘Starlink.’ What turned failure into success? The answer was the ‘reusable launch vehicle’ technology.

In the past, rockets worth hundreds of billions were discarded in the ocean after a single launch. By successfully recovering and reusing them, launch costs dropped to one-tenth. Once freed from cost constraints, the ‘mega-constellation’ of thousands or tens of thousands of satellites covering the sky became a reality. The dream of the 1990s became the reality of the 2020s, and a new space race to claim ownership of the skies began.

Part 2: The Shadow of Ukraine

The War Hero and the Invisible Hand

In 2022, Russia’s invasion turned Ukraine’s communication networks to ashes. The light that saved Ukraine from near-total darkness was Starlink. It connected the government’s communications, served as the eyes of drones attacking the enemy, and enabled the world to witness the horrors of war. Starlink emerged as a ‘game changer’ in modern warfare.

But this powerful force cast a dark shadow. The ‘sky switch’ controlling the system was in the hands of not the Ukrainian government or its ally the U.S., but a single individual: Elon Musk.

A Single Person’s Decision Changed the Battlefield

This precarious reality was exposed when Musk cut off Starlink service near Crimea. At that time, Ukraine was preparing a large-scale drone attack against the Russian fleet. However, Musk, who controlled communications in the operation area, refused service based on his personal judgment that he did not want the war to escalate, causing the operation to collapse.

This incident posed a shocking question to the world: “Can the fate of a country be determined by the beliefs of a foreign company CEO rather than its allies?”

Starlink was no longer just an internet service. It became a geopolitical weapon capable of crippling a nation’s military operations and a diplomatic lever. Ukraine’s ordeal left a clear lesson: under skies controlled by others, true sovereignty does not exist.

Part 3: Survival Conditions in the 6G Era

When Sky and Earth Become One

We are moving beyond 5G into the 6G era. 6G is not just about faster speeds but the beginning of a ‘hyper-connected society’ where ground and space networks are perfectly integrated. Smartphones will seamlessly switch between base stations and satellite signals, flying taxis (UAM) and autonomous vehicles will exchange road information without interruption. The core technology enabling all this is the Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN), i.e., satellite communication.

# What If We Don’t Have Our Own Highway?

What happens if we don’t have our own satellite network in this era? It’s like relying on another country for all traffic lights and control systems on a well-paved highway. Not only would we pay huge usage fees, but, like Ukraine, in emergencies our traffic network could be paralyzed by external hands.

Ultimately, orbital sovereignty is not just a choice for technological dominance in the 6G era but an essential condition for national security and economic survival.

Part 4: South Korea at a Crossroads of Opportunity

What about our reality? We have both hope and challenges.

• 🧠 Our Strength (Brains): We possess world-class ICT technology and semiconductor capabilities. We have great potential to lead the market for key components like satellite communication payloads and ground terminals—the ‘brains’ of satellites. Companies like Hanwha Systems and Intellian Technologies already showcase global-level technology.
• 💪 Our Weakness (Muscle): Our biggest vulnerability is the lack of ‘muscle’—cost-effective launch vehicles to send satellites into orbit. The success of Nuri rocket is a great first step, but a single-use approach cannot launch thousands of satellites. Also, we are still latecomers in the international competition to secure ‘frequency and orbit,’ the so-called ‘sky lanes.’

The Blueprint for Our Sky

The strategic high ground of the 21st century is low Earth orbit space. Who occupies this high ground will determine the nation’s future. Securing ‘orbital sovereignty’ is no longer a delayable survival task.

We need a bold blueprint:

1. Form a ‘National Low Earth Orbit Alliance’: Create a government-led ‘dream team’ uniting companies and research institutes.
2. Commercialize Reusable Launch Vehicle as a National Strategic Project: Treat it as a top priority like semiconductors, with long-term and stable investment.
3. All-Out Effort to Secure ‘Orbital Real Estate’: Immediately start diplomatic battles on the international stage to secure frequencies and orbits—future pathways for our satellites.
4. Dual-Track Strategy: In the short term, dominate the global market with our strength in ‘brains’ (key components), and in the long term, become sovereign operators running our own satellite networks.

It is time to end the era of entrusting the switch to our skies to others. Bold decisions and investments now will be the most certain security and strongest growth engine for the next generation.