- France says it’s exploring options that include sending Eutelsat satellite internet terminals to Iran.
- Activists told AP that Starlink service in Iran is now free for users with receivers, and SpaceX pushed a firmware update aimed at defeating jamming.
- Reuters reported Starlink operates more than 9,000 satellites, versus Eutelsat’s fleet of over 600.
France is studying whether it can transfer Eutelsat satellite internet terminals to Iran, after Tehran imposed a sweeping internet blackout during violent unrest. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told lawmakers, “We are exploring all options.” Reuters
This matters right now because Iran’s shutdown isn’t just slowing down social media. It’s designed to cut off the flow of videos, messaging, and real-time coordination as the crackdown intensifies.
And it’s turning satellite broadband into the loophole governments fear: internet that doesn’t rely on local telecom networks, switching centers, or national ISPs that can be ordered offline.
Eutelsat sits in a weirdly strategic position here. Reuters notes the company owns OneWeb and is backed by the French and British governments, making it the only low Earth orbit “constellation” (a network of many satellites working together) besides Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The bigger, immediate jolt is coming from SpaceX. Activists told The Associated Press that Starlink dropped its fees for Iran—making service free for people who already have receivers—and also pushed a firmware update meant to help users push through Iranian jamming. Apnews
AP says the move followed a complete shutdown of telecommunications and internet access for Iran’s 85 million people on Jan. 8, as protests expanded amid economic turmoil and a collapsing currency. SpaceX hasn’t publicly announced the change and didn’t respond to a request for comment, according to the report.
The tech piece isn’t subtle: if you can keep a Starlink dish powered and pointed at the sky, you can sidestep the national blackout. Mehdi Yahyanejad, whose nonprofit Net Freedom Pioneers has helped get units into Iran, described Starlink as “crucial” for getting graphic evidence out, including footage from a forensic medical center near Tehran.
But the “dish in the window” reality is dangerous. AP reports Starlink is banned in Iran under telecom rules, and activists worry users could be accused of espionage—charges that can carry the death penalty—if authorities tie Starlink use to helping the U.S. or Israel.
That’s why it’s become a concealment game. Ahmad Ahmadian of Holistic Resilience told AP that more than 50,000 units are estimated to have been smuggled in since 2022, and that people hide terminals in plain sight—sometimes disguising them as solar panels—because the antenna needs a clear line of sight and can be spotted.
Iran is responding like a state that has learned from past shutdowns. AP says security services have moved to “extreme tactics” to jam Starlink radio signals and even GPS systems, and that reports sent to SpaceX were followed by the firmware update. Reuters, meanwhile, cited NetBlocks founder Alp Toker saying Starlink connectivity “appears to be reduced,” suggesting the interference is at least partially working.
This is where Eutelsat could, in theory, widen the escape hatch—but the physics and the hardware matter. Reuters reports Starlink’s more than 9,000 satellites support higher speeds than Eutelsat’s fleet of 600-plus, and Starlink’s user terminals are cheaper and easier to install; adviser Carlos Placido added that OneWeb terminals are bulkier and easier to jam.
There’s also a bigger dependency problem hanging over all of this. AP quotes International Institute for Strategic Studies researcher Julia Voo warning that relying on one company as a lifeline “creates a single point of failure,” and she notes there are currently no comparable alternatives.
What’s not clear—and what could go wrong fast—is whether any outside effort can scale against a government willing to seize terminals, jam signals, and punish possession. The legal and regulatory side is messy too: Al Jazeera notes Iran has already taken the dispute to the UN telecom agency (the ITU), which ruled against Starlink’s unauthorized deployment. Aljazeera
For now, Iran’s blackout is becoming a live-fire test of satellite internet as both a protest tool and a geopolitical lever. The next phase may depend less on rockets and more on logistics: who can get terminals in, keep them hidden, and keep them working when the jammers turn up.
