Poland plans to buy a stake in a satellite company that supplies Ukraine with images of Russian troops
- Author:
- Oleksandr Bulin
- Date:
ICEYE
Poland is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire a stake in satellite company ICEYE, which will provide Ukraine with images of Russian objects starting in 2022.
The Financial Times writes about this.
The company was founded in 2014 as a supplier of radar images of ice floes to shipping companies. But the Arctic market “disappeared” after Western countries imposed sanctions on Russia. Then ICEYE turned to the defense industry. According to Modzhevsky, its price has now increased and is well above $1 billion. The company wants to expand its production capacity at least four times to meet the growing demand for its satellites.
Polandʼs investments will be channeled through the National Development Bank. They will supplement the $550 million already raised from investors.
In May, the countryʼs Department of Defense purchased six ICEYE satellites for $230 million. They use synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology to capture images at night and through clouds, a capability that conventional and larger optical satellites lack.
The company has launched 54 satellites, each costing about $20 million to produce. About half of them serve the defense forces of various countries, including the Netherlands, Finland, Brazil, and Portugal.
- In July 2024, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine signed a memorandum with ICEYE to deepen cooperation in the field of space intelligence. Since the beginning of October 2024, Ukraine has been receiving new satellite images taken by ICEYE satellites as part of the cooperation between Rheinmetall and ICEYE.
- In August 2022, ICEYE signed a contract with the Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation, providing Ukraine with access to one of its satellites. Photos from this satellite are used by Ukrainian intelligence, it has already photographed over 4 thousand Russian objects and helped cause billions of dollars in damage.
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