Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has teamed up with ICEYE and Nokia, two Finnish companies, on space technology. The partnership was announced during the Finnish prime minister’s visit to Ukraine, and the companies later confirmed that its main goal is a sovereign satellite communications system for the country.
Sovereign here means Ukraine would own and operate the satellites, ground infrastructure and terminals itself. “Ukraine needs secure, sovereign and high-performance satellite communications that it controls on its own,” said ICEYE CEO Rafal Modrzewski. He added that ICEYE can deploy such space missions quickly and has supported Ukraine since 2022.
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ICEYE specializes in space-based intelligence, while Nokia is one of the world’s largest telecom equipment makers. Earlier this month, the two agreed to jointly develop secure low Earth orbit communications systems for governments. These are meant to serve armed forces, border guards, emergency services and disaster response teams. The systems will rely on European technology, with the first satellites planned for launch in 2028. ICEYE is already working on a similar project in Poland: in September, it and defense group PGZ signed a deal for the MILSATCOM military satellite system.
Nokia explains why Ukraine needs this. Mikko Hautala, head of Nokia Defense, noted that satellite networks keep communications running when ground infrastructure is disrupted, making them a key part of any secure communications setup. Under the letter of intent, Nokia, ICEYE and Ukraine will study how a sovereign satellite network could make Ukrainian communications more resilient and fully under the country’s own control.
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