Non-EU countries such as Norway, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom (EU) could yet join the EU's secure communication satellite network IRIS² as an alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink, Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told Euractiv, the latter reports.

“I would not be opposed," Kubilius said when asked if such non-EU countries could formally join the multi-billion euro space program.

Aside from Norway, which is already in talks with the European Commission over joining the satellite network program, neither Ukraine nor the United Kingdom have so far kicked off negotiations about signing up.

Iceland—also a European Economic Area country like Norway—said it had concluded talks with the Commission earlier this month to participate in IRIS², the EU’s competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Ukraine has relied on Musk's SpaceX to provide telecommunications services for its military operations during its war Russia, and there has been “general disquiet about the level of dominance the Starlink constellation has in the space-enabled telecom market.”

IRIS² is expected to cost €10.6 billion and be made up of around 280 satellites once it's online in the 2030s.