Starlink set to build its first site in Switzerland
By Jan de Boer
US internet and satellite network Starlink has announced plans to build its first-ever array in Switzerland. Once completed, the site would be one of the company's largest facilities in Europe.
Starlink to build its first base in Switzerland in Valais
According to reporting for local news site Le Nouvelliste, Starlink’s first foray into Switzerland will be in Leuk, Canton Valais. On May 28, planning permission was submitted to install a new satellite array, and the manufacturer of Starlink - Elon Musk’s SpaceX - has applied for a radiocommunications licence from the Swiss government.
In service since 2021 and available in Switzerland since August of the same year, Starlink is an internet and communications service which uses low Earth orbiting satellites to provide coverage to areas where regular internet services are unavailable. This is done by connecting a dish, phone or ground antenna to the satellite network.
As of May 2025, 7.600 Starlink satellites are providing connections to over 6 million subscribers in around 130 nations and territories. As it stands, Starlink alone comprises 65 percent of active satellites. The site in Leuk will help keep these satellites connected to the internet and to Starlink users' personal antennas.
What will Starlink's base in Leuk look like?
The site in Switzerland is expected to consist of 40 Low Earth Orbit or LEO dome antennas. If approved, the facility would not only be Starlink’s first in the alpine nation, but one of its largest centres in Europe - most Starlink arrays only have nine LEO antennas.
"I welcome the arrival of Starlink to boost our municipality's economy," Leuk Mayor Alain Bregy told the newspaper. He said that the site will massively benefit local services as it will lead to a vast increase in revenue from taxes.
Conspiracy theorists the main opposition to the project
For now, the biggest opposition to the plans has come from a 5.000-strong Facebook group called “5G in Switzerland, no thank you”. Leaders of the group have encouraged members to raise objections to the plans on the grounds that the antennas will make locals ill.
"That's complete nonsense," Bregy noted, adding that "People have always been afraid of the invisible." What the Facebook group has failed to notice is that Leuk already has a network of antennas and satellite dishes, which would be removed if the Starlink project goes ahead.
However, there are various non-conspiracy-related reasons to be sceptical about Starlink, most notably concerns over the impact the system has on light pollution. The sheer scale of the network has also led to various incidents in which satellites have had to move to avoid colliding with the system and prevent a cascade of collisions that could take out the whole network.
Others have worried about the connections the company has with controversial entrepreneur Elon Musk and with the United States government, in particular, the military.
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more