KYIV — Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved a bill in its first reading on Monday, November 9, that would create Space Forces as a separate branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, advancing plans for an independent missile-launch early-warning system and secure satellite communications. Parliament's press service announced that 252 lawmakers supported draft law No. 13255, which would amend the law governing the structure of Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Source: EuropeSays / Kyiv Post, Nov 9 2026, citing the Verkhovna Rada press service
The bill was introduced by a group of 33 lawmakers, including Fedir Venislavskyi, Oleksandr Fediienko and Yurii Zdebskyi of the ruling Servant of the People party and Roman Kostenko of the Holos party, Ukrainian News reported. Under the draft, the Space Forces would join the country's existing services as a separate branch, funded from the existing budget for the security and defence sector.
Source: Defence Blog, Nov 9 2026, citing Ukrainian News
What the new force is meant to do
The initiative envisages developing space technologies for defence, including a national system to detect enemy missile launches and capabilities to counter such attacks, and a national protected satellite communications network for the security and defence sector. The supporting materials argue that Ukraine has the scientific, engineering and manufacturing expertise needed to develop its own satellites and associated infrastructure, and they identify early detection of missile launches, satellite reconnaissance and protected communications as the priorities.
Source: EuropeSays / Kyiv Post, Nov 9 2026, citing the Verkhovna Rada press service
The vote came hours after the latest mass overnight attack Awaaz Punjab reported on Monday, in which — Ukraine's air force said — Russia launched 317 drones and strikes were recorded at 31 locations. Missile and drone warning time is the gap the new bill is meant to close. Read the earlier report: Russia's 317-drone overnight attack on Ukraine
Missile warning is the most pressing gap the bill targets. Russia regularly fires ballistic missiles at Ukrainian cities and energy facilities, and Ukraine depends largely on allies, especially the United States, for satellite data that gives early warning of launches; a domestic system would give Kyiv its own source of that information. Satellite communications are just as important on the front line: Ukrainian forces rely heavily on SpaceX's Starlink terminals to control drones, coordinate units and keep command links running, and Kyiv has been looking for ways to reduce its dependence on a single foreign commercial provider.
Source: Defence Blog, Nov 9 2026, citing Ukrainian News
The groundwork already laid
The proposal builds on earlier institutional changes. Ukraine's defence ministry announced a Space Policy Directorate in March 2025 to coordinate military requirements, technical expertise and cooperation with partners and commercial suppliers, identifying three main needs: satellite communications, reconnaissance and early warning of missile threats. 'Timely detection of missile launches is critical for the effective operation of air defense systems,' the ministry said. Practical work has also begun: Ukrainian company Himera and Denmark's GomSpace launched OBRIA NANO, a test satellite, aboard a SpaceX mission on October 1, and announced on October 27 that it was operating in orbit, testing technologies for a future Ukrainian communications network under a Ukrainian operator's control.
Source: EuropeSays / Kyiv Post, Nov 9 2026, citing the Verkhovna Rada press service
The drive for greater control over communications follows October disruptions to Starshield services that affected Ukrainian drone missions, reconnaissance and frontline logistics; the defence ministry subsequently said operating speeds had recovered, while US lawmakers began seeking records on how the restrictions were authorised. Kyiv is also expanding cooperation with existing partners: agreements signed with Finland on October 22 included plans to make greater use of Finnish satellite capabilities through Nokia and ICEYE, alongside broader defence and economic cooperation.
Source: EuropeSays / Kyiv Post, Nov 9 2026, citing the Verkhovna Rada press service
What is solid
- The Verkhovna Rada approved draft law No. 13255 in its first reading on Monday, Nov 9; parliament's press service said 252 lawmakers supported it — Rada press service via EuropeSays/Kyiv Post; Defence Blog
- The bill would add Space Forces as a separate branch of the Armed Forces and envisages a national missile-launch early-warning system, countermeasures and protected satellite communications — both reports
- A first-reading vote approves the concept only: the bill returns to committee for amendments, needs a second-reading vote and then the president's signature — both reports
- Creating a branch by law is not the same as fielding satellites: the vote establishes no funded constellation and announces no deployment timetable, and parliament's budget committee has assessed that establishing, maintaining and equipping the force would require additional defence-ministry expenditure — EuropeSays
What is only claimed
- How the force would be paid for: the draft text describes funding from the existing security and defence sector budget, while the budget committee's assessment points to additional expenditure being required — the two positions are both on record and not yet reconciled
- Whether Ukraine can build and sustain its own early-warning constellation while at war, and on what timeline — supporters cite domestic scientific and manufacturing expertise; no programme schedule has been published
A wartime pattern: new branches for new kinds of war
Creating a new branch of the armed forces is not new for Ukraine during the war. In 2024, parliament set up the Unmanned Systems Forces as a separate branch to scale up drone warfare — the force that now sits at the centre of Ukraine's strike and reconnaissance effort. The Space Forces bill follows the same logic one level up: the sensors and links that tell drone units, air defences and commanders what is coming, and keep them connected when commercial services falter, would become a service of their own rather than a borrowed capability.
What happens next
The bill now goes back to committee, where lawmakers can propose amendments, before a second-reading vote on the final text; only then would it go to the president for signature and become law. The harder test sits behind the legal one: turning a directorate, a test satellite and partner agreements into an operational early-warning and communications capability will take money the budget committee says is not yet allocated, and time measured in years, not months — while the overnight attacks the system is designed to warn against continue now.