Ukrainian communications startup Himera and Danish satellite manufacturer GomSpace have a demonstrator satellite called Obria Nano in orbit — the first hardware step towards a satellite network Ukraine would own and control. It flew on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission on 1 October and is already operating, Himera told Ukrainska Pravda on 27 October, in comments relayed by the Kyiv Post.
Key facts
- What launched: Obria Nano, a communications demonstrator, on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare flight, 1 October 2026.
- Who built it: Himera — a Ukrainian startup founded in 2022 that makes jam-resistant tactical radios — with GomSpace, a Danish builder of nanosatellites and microsatellites founded in 2007, per Defence24.
- How big, how fast: the nanosatellite class is the only size indication in any of the reports. Neither Himera nor GomSpace has published a mass, orbit altitude, frequency band or data rate for Obria Nano.
- Who runs it: a Ukrainian operator, serving Ukraine’s strategic security needs, despite the SpaceX ride to orbit, the Kyiv Post said.
- The goal: an Obria constellation covering Ukrainian territory, with satellite and ground-terminal production moved into Ukraine as the next priority.
- Not published: price, budget, satellite count, service date, terminal design, coverage footprint or performance figures.
What Himera says Obria is for
The demonstrator’s job is technical testing that will shape the design of the final system, per Defence24. Himera cast the trials as the practical experience needed to turn the project into Ukrainian national infrastructure, arguing to Ukrainska Pravda that foreign-made technology creates strategic risks in wartime and that building at home would widen Kyiv’s communication options.
“For us, this project is about much more than simply launching a satellite into orbit,” Misha Rudominski, Himera’s co-founder and chief executive, told Defence24. The long-term aim, he said, is capability that strengthens Ukraine’s strategic security and cuts its reliance on outside communications providers — eventually a constellation covering the whole country, meant to complement existing European satellite systems rather than stand alone, the Kyiv Post added.
A naming puzzle the sources cannot resolve
Defence24 flagged one loose end. GomSpace signed an agreement in April with a different Ukrainian company, STETMAN, for the UASAT constellation — ultimately expected to run to several hundred satellites — whose first demonstrator, UASAT-NANO, was also booked on an October SpaceX launch. Whether the two projects are linked, or whether Obria Nano and UASAT-NANO are the same spacecraft, is unclear: GomSpace and Himera announced Obria Nano, while public orbital object catalogues list UASAT-NANO.
Why it matters
Momentum behind weaning Ukraine off Starlink and its military counterpart Starshield built after the deliberate service restrictions of mid-October, Defence24 wrote. Kyiv first reported the curbs on 14 October, Mint noted, and both US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk denied responsibility. Connectivity had reportedly returned to normal in the days before Defence24 published, though the outlet called the American “kill switch” over key Ukrainian capabilities an increasingly serious concern.
For readers outside Ukraine, the point is narrower than a new broadband option: it is about who can switch a network off. That same question runs through restrictions that slowed Ukraine’s drones and air defences and the difference between the civilian Starlink service and the military Starshield.
The other tracks Kyiv is running
Obria is one of several parallel bets. Nokia and fellow Finnish firm ICEYE have signed a Letter of Intent with Ukraine’s defence ministry to explore space cooperation, announced during the Finnish prime minister’s visit and set out in a Nokia press release that Mint summarised; the pair had already pledged to build sovereign low-Earth-orbit broadband systems that leave governments owning the satellites, ground segment and terminals. ICEYE also supplies Kyiv with synthetic-aperture radar imagery used for intelligence gathering and operational planning — a detail Mint attributed to Space.com. Ukraine signed seven agreements with Finland on 22 October, among them deals to expand its use of Finnish satellite capacity through Nokia and ICEYE, the Kyiv Post said, quoting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “We agreed that we will make greater use of Finland’s satellite capabilities.” Kyiv is weighing participation in the EU’s GOVSATCOM capacity-sharing programme and the bloc’s planned IRIS² constellation too, Defence24 said, and has heard from other vendors pitching Kyiv a Starlink substitute.
The realistic timeline
Together these efforts could gradually shrink Ukraine’s dependence on American satellites over the coming years, Defence24 judged, but nothing on a comparable scale is in prospect soon; the near-term priority is keeping critical military and government traffic moving if access is cut again. Obria is also not pitched at households — it is state infrastructure, and no consumer availability date, terminal price or subscription tariff has been floated for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Has Himera’s equipment already been used by the Ukrainian military?
Yes. Himera said in a statement on 15 October that a unit of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) tested its HIMERA G1 PRO radios and HIMERA B1 repeater in real combat conditions, according to the Kyiv Post. Testers praised the durable casing, simple setup, compact repeater and battery life of up to four days on one charge, but asked for much better sound quality on the G1 PRO.
What is Russia building as its own answer to Starlink?
Russian company Bureau 1440 is building Rassvet, a low-orbit satellite broadband service reached through dedicated terminals, the Kyiv Post reports. Bureau 1440 says the finished system will operate at about 800 kilometres altitude, deliver up to 1 Gbps with delays of up to 70 milliseconds, and use 5G non-terrestrial network standards and laser links between satellites. Former HUR deputy chief Major General Ilya Pavlenko told Interfax-Ukraine the network could eventually let Russian forces control long-range drones over Ukraine in real time.
Are European telecom operators also looking at Starlink alternatives?
The Financial Times reported in October that four of Europe’s major telecom groups — Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone — are considering satellite mobile services of their own, in a report summarised by Mint. The stated aim is to cut reliance on providers outside the European Union and to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.
Is Norway involved in Ukraine’s search for a Starshield replacement?
Yes. Separately from the Finnish deals, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a partnership with Norway to jointly develop air defence and communications systems that could serve as an alternative to Starshield, according to Mint. No timeline or cost for that work was given in the report.
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