Volunteer Serhii Prytula talked about the details of the purchase of the ICEYE companyʼs satellite, its advantages for the Ukrainian army, and also responded to criticism on social networks.
He wrote about this on his Facebook.
According to him, the volunteer fund actually bought the satellite instead of renting it.
"According to the agreement, the Ukrainian side receives both the satellite and access to the database of the constellation of satellites. When the paid period of access to the database expires, this satellite remains in full ownership of Ukraine — until the end of its functionality in orbit," Prytula explained, adding that in the future the satellite will be re-registered in the relevant registers for Ukraine.
He emphasized that it is Ukraine that decides how the satellite will work and what it will shoot. That is, this satellite is fully owned by Ukraine. If it breaks before the guaranteed service life, ICEYE will provide an identical satellite.
Explaining the purpose of this satellite for the Ukrainian army, Prytula said that it allows receiving exclusive images 24/7 under any weather conditions day and night, which makes it possible to plan operations much better.
The peculiarity of the satellite is that it illuminates the surface of the Earth with its own radio waves and gives a clear picture despite clouds, rain, fog and smog. Its resolution is from 0.5 to 1 meter, depending on the area covered by the picture. One picture can cover an area of up to 225 square kilometers. At the same time, the satellite provides continuous data reception, while foreign partners transmit data to Ukraine with a delay. Its presence in the service of the Armed Forces shortens the process of receiving a fresh picture by units to a few hours.
Regarding criticism of "experts", Prytula spoke harshly. He is surprised that "treason" was spread by people who position themselves as patriots.
"While millions of Ukrainians were happy that the volunteer fund provided the country with space technologies, which Ukraine never possessed and which Russia does not have, you played politics and tried to devalue both the work of my team and everyone who contributed to the fact that the agreement took place! I feel sorry for you. You do not know how to rejoice for someone elseʼs successes, except your own, and, unfortunately, even the war did not cause you to understand that now there are no "mine" or "yours", but only our successes! Therefore, for now, I will leave you alone with your wretchedness," Prytula wrote.
- On June 24, volunteer Serhiy Prytula reported that in three days, Ukrainians collected 600 million hryvnias through donations to purchase four Bayraktar drones. After that, the Baykar company announced that it would give three Bayraktar TB2s to the Armed Forces of Ukraine free of charge.
- On June 18, volunteer Serhiy Prytula reported that the money collected for Bayraktar TB2, which Ukraine ultimately received for free, was spent on the satellite. The ICEYE company will provide the government of Ukraine with all the capabilities of one of its search and rescue satellites that are already in orbit. The SAR satellite will be operated by ICEYE. In addition, ICEYE will provide access to its group of SAR satellites, which will allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to receive radar satellite images of critical locations with a high frequency of overflights.
- The company EOS Data Analytics, which was involved in the purchase of the satellite, reported that it will remain in the ownership of Ukraine until the end of its work in orbit.