Polish authorities are investigating a fire at a Starlink ground station south of Warsaw, with a senior minister calling it an act of sabotage aimed at disrupting internet access to Ukraine.
The fire broke out Wednesday evening at a facility in Wola Krobowska operated by state-owned telecommunications company Exatel. The station helps carry traffic through Poland to other countries, including Ukraine, where Starlink remains an important communications link for the military.
Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the fire appeared deliberately intended to disable the station and interrupt service to institutions that include Ukraine’s armed forces. He suggested it could fit a pattern of Russian attacks, while acknowledging that investigators have yet to establish who was responsible.
Investigators are examining the cause, including the possibility of an electrical fault. No Russian involvement has been established.
The blaze reportedly damaged electrical equipment and a generator, and no injuries were reported. Authorities say the station remained operational, though the extent of any interruption to its equipment is unclear. There has been no confirmed widespread Starlink outage linked to the fire.
Starlink ground stations are the link between SpaceX’s satellites and the internet on Earth. They send data to satellites overhead and receive data back, allowing a user’s Starlink dish to connect to websites and services. The Polish station helps carry that traffic toward Ukraine, which is why officials are concerned about the fire.
SpaceX has other ground stations in Europe, but it has not said whether traffic had to be rerouted after this incident.
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