Starlink ground station catches fire in Poland PHOTO

A fire broke out on the evening of September 23 at a Starlink satellite communications ground station in the village of Wola-Krobowska in Poland’s Mazowieckie Voivodeship.

Polish authorities said the owner of the property where the facility is located alerted emergency services after antennas caught fire, Caliber.Az reports, citing Polish media.

As a result, an electrical generator was damaged. Firefighters who arrived at the scene extinguished the blaze.

Polish authorities are considering two main possibilities: arson and a short circuit in the electrical system.

Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski claimed there were strong indications of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the station’s operations.

In his words, the station is operated by state-owned telecommunications operator Exatel, which provides internet security and internet access, including to Ukraine. He noted that disruptions at such facilities could affect the provision of internet services and the operation of various systems, including ATMs.

The ground station in Wola-Krobowska, together with a similar facility near Kaunas, Lithuania, provides internet access to a significant part of Central and Eastern Europe.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov