Rival satellite companies are jockeying to loosen Elon Musk's grip on battlefield communications after his company's restrictions on Ukraine's Starlink service shook officials in Europe and the U.S.

Why it matters: The episode, which temporarily disrupted Ukraine's drone usage, shows how vulnerable a military can be to the whims of a single company or market dominator.

State of play: Musk'sSpaceX, which is the parent company of Starlink, is by far the world's leader in space-based connectivity with more than 11,000 satellites, per the American Enterprise Institute's data. Eutelsat, a France-based SATCOM firm, is behind them with more than 600 satellites in its OneWeb network.

This summer, Starlink announced it hit 12 million customers across more than 160 countries and territories.

SpaceX's massive lead has made it difficult for European countries that want to establish independence from the Musk-led company.

Driving the news: Now, non-U.S.…