Military & Defense
Ukraine signs a letter of intent with Nokia and ICEYE on satellite communications under Ukrainian control
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has signed a letter of intent with Finland’s Nokia and ICEYE to explore satellite communications under Ukrainian control. It is not a purchase or a commitment to develop a system, and funding, numbers and timeline were not disclosed.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence has signed a letter of intent with Finland’s Nokia and ICEYE to explore the creation of satellite communications under Ukrainian control. The aim is to strengthen defence capabilities and keep critical communications running when ground networks are cut. The agreement was announced on October 22, during the Finnish prime minister’s visit to Ukraine.
The letter is a basis for examining how the capability would support Ukraine, and is not a purchase of satellites or a commitment to develop a system. Funding, the number of satellites and the system’s deployment timeline were not disclosed.
Ownership of satellites and ground equipment
The talks build on the Nokia-ICEYE cooperation announced earlier in October for secure broadband communications via low-Earth-orbit satellites. The scheme would give government customers ownership and control of the satellites, the ground infrastructure and the terminals. The companies say the systems will be based on European technology and will serve defence, border security, emergency services and disaster management.
“Ukraine needs secure, high-performance sovereign satellite communications systems that it controls itself,” said ICEYE CEO and co-founder Rafał Modrzewski. “We have a proven record of rapidly delivering sovereign missions, to help build this capability.” He added that ICEYE has supported Ukraine since 2022 and will continue to do so.
“States need communications they can rely on in every circumstance,” said Mikko Hautala, head of geopolitics and government relations at Nokia and president of Nokia Defense. “Satellite networks extend and protect connectivity when ground networks are disrupted.”
ICEYE is best known for its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, which provide imagery day and night and through cloud. Ukraine uses its images to monitor Russian forces, while sovereign satellite communication matters to Kyiv, which relies heavily on commercial networks such as Starlink. Greece has also acquired satellites from the company.
