Ukraine’s largest mobile operator Kyivstar has completed the country’s first field test of SpaceX’s Starlink direct-to-cell satellite service, sending text messages between chief executive Oleksandr Komarov and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov in the Zhytomyr region. The demonstration is the first confirmed use of Starlink’s technology in Europe, with satellites acting as orbiting cell towers that connect ordinary smartphones without ground-based infrastructure. Kyivstar and SpaceX plan to roll out commercial direct-to-cell messaging in the fourth quarter of 2025 and expand to broadband data in early 2026. Reliable satellite links are viewed as critical for Ukraine, where Russian strikes routinely disrupt terrestrial networks. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said additional direct-to-cell coverage over Ukraine will come online later this year. Starlink has similar agreements with mobile operators in nine other countries.