Military & Defense
Ukraine sets up a Space Force – the Rada approved the new branch in first reading
Ukraine’s parliament approved in first reading, with 252 votes, bill 13255 adding a Space Force as a separate branch of the armed forces, as Kyiv worries about dependence on foreign providers such as Starlink.
Ukraine is taking the first institutional step to acquire a Space Force as a separate branch of its armed forces. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, approved in first reading on Monday, November 9 bill No. 13255, which amends the law on the country’s Armed Forces. 252 lawmakers voted in favour.
The change is formally small but substantively large: in Article 3 of the law, which lists the branches of Ukraine’s armed forces, one more is added, the “Space Forces.” The bill was registered on May 2, 2025 and must now pass a second reading before becoming law. If the process is completed, Ukraine will treat Space as a standalone operational domain with its own branch, as the US already does with the Space Force founded in 2019.
What the bill provides
The explanatory note says the goal is to provide the legal basis for creating and operating the new branch. With it, Ukraine will gain the organisational, legal, institutional and military-technical capabilities to face threats coming from Space, whether from Russia or from any other potential aggressor.
Parliament says the text provides for developing space technologies for the country’s defence. Measures described include a national early-warning system for missile launches, along with ways to counter them, and secure satellite communications for security and defence forces.
The shadow of Starlink
The move comes as concern grows in Kyiv about dependence on foreign providers. In October, restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield service reportedly interrupted some Ukrainian military operations, at a time of heated dispute between Kyiv and Elon Musk over the use of Starlink.
The row continued in recent days. On November 5, Volodymyr Zelensky told the German programme ZDF Magazin Royale that “there is too much power in the hands of one very rich man” and that such concentration of power is dangerous. Mr Musk then reposted on X a post calling Ukraine’s access to Starlink terminals “wrong.”
Space has also become a field of competition on the Russian side, as Moscow develops its own Starlink-type network, Rassvet, to guide drones. With a Space Force, Kyiv seeks to have its own answers in this domain too.
