Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a partnership with Finnish tech giants Nokia and ICEYE to develop a sovereign satellite system for Ukraine's military.
What happened
The partnership, formalized through a letter of intent with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, aims to support Ukraine's defense capabilities in space. Nokia and ICEYE will work together to develop a sovereign broadband low-earth orbit communications system, which can be used for defense, emergency disaster response, and border security.
According to Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE, Ukraine needs secure and high-performance satellite communications systems that it controls. ICEYE has been supporting Ukraine since 2022 and remains committed to continuing that support.
The Ukrainian military currently relies on SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service for battlefield communications and interceptor drone strikes. However, the country has been experiencing limitations in its Starlink service, with officials saying it had been blocked on linked devices moving faster than 100 miles an hour.
