U.S. aerospace company Maxar temporarily suspends Ukraine's access to satellite data, citing Trump-era restrictions on military aid. Military analyst Marina Miron tells DW the move could have immediate impact on battlefield operations.

Kyiv

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

U.S. company Maxar Technologies, known for its satellite imaging services, has temporarily halted Ukraine's access to its satellite data. This action stems from restrictions based on policies implemented during the Trump administration, specifically regarding military aid and intelligence sharing. The company, holding a contract with the U.S. government, suspended its services to Ukraine on the orders of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. This suspension affects Ukraine's military capabilities significantly, as the country does not possess its own satellite resources and relies heavily on U.S. intelligence, particularly geospatial intelligence.

According to military analyst Marina Miron from King's College London, the absence of Maxar's high-resolution satellite imagery poses immediate challenges on the battlefield. Such images are crucial for planning military operations, assessing damage, and identifying strategic targets. The U.S. leads in geospatial intelligence and Ukraine's reliance on this data had previously given it a strategic advantage, particularly over Russia, which has less developed satellite capabilities.

While there are alternative satellite data providers, geopolitics complicates potential solutions. European capabilities are not as advanced, and although countries like China also provide such data, their willingness to sell to Ukraine remains uncertain. Furthermore, even if European satellite services are available, time constraints and integration challenges hinder their immediate utility. The situation underscores the complexities of global satellite data sharing and its implications for international military strategy.



U.S. company Maxar suspends Ukraine's access to satellite data

Let's speak now with military analyst Marina Miron from King's College London. Marina, great to see you. So Donald Trump's suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine appears now to extend to U.S. commercial companies. How big of an issue is the loss of satellite images for the Ukrainian war effort? Good day, Pablo. Well, what we have to understand is that suspending intelligence sharing with Ukraine, so this Maxar issue comes as a direct consequence of that because it wasn't Maxar per se that suspended the services, it was the U.S. government and more specifically the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency because Maxar has a contract with the U.S. government to provide that intelligence for the government. And so Ukraine had an account to access it and now that access has been suspended, which will be directly reflected on the battlefield and more quickly than, say, as a shortage of weapons, because in order to plan operations or to assess damage, to identify targets, you need satellite capabilities. And Ukraine doesn't have its own satellite capabilities. The best satellite capabilities are still in the U.S. The U.S. is leading in this domain with China following the U.S. The Europeans cannot just step in. And what Maxar used to provide, real time high resolution images, for instance, which can be used to assess the success of Ukrainian long range strikes or even see the Russian troop movements, for instance, troop concentrations, which then in turn could be targeted by Ukrainian artillery. It was also used to prepare for Russian long range strikes. And so that capability is now also gone. OK, so a pretty difficult situation for them. Zooming out a little bit, Marina, how much does Ukraine actually rely on U.S. intelligence in general? And what about other countries? Are they still able to pass on intelligence that they receive from the U.S.? Well, from my understanding, there was a huge reliance on U.S. intelligence because of the U.S. intelligence capabilities being superior to those of other countries. We're talking about different types of intelligence here when we're talking about Maxar. It's geospatial intelligence and there is signals intelligence as well. So there are different types of intelligence that the Ukrainians were receiving as well as as targeting information. The problem here is that the United States has prohibited the allies. And in this specific case, it was the United Kingdom was prohibited from sharing any intelligence with Ukraine. That is, any intelligence that is shared by the United States with the United Kingdom. So it's very difficult for Ukraine because essentially what the American government has done is leveling the field because the Russian space capabilities are very much underdeveloped due to years of mismanagement. And now Ukraine had that advantage and now it is being taken away. So they have to somehow scramble and adapt in order to be able to function without this constant flow of information and information, superiority of information is essential for conducting military operations of any kind. Yeah, so it's so it's definitely by the sounds of things, from what you're saying, it sounds like a rather difficult situation that Ukraine finds itself in. Now, a little earlier, you were just saying there that, you know, it's not so easy for Europe to just jump in. But are there other suppliers that perhaps Ukraine can turn to to kind of deal with this current situation that they find themselves in? Well, there is one way of going around this is for other countries to purchase services from Maxar, but we don't know whether the U.S. government might put any prohibition directly to the company. There are European alternatives. The Chinese have these capabilities. But of course, we're talking here about geopolitics as well. Will they be interested in selling that information, knowing that it would be going to Ukraine? And as far as Europeans are concerned, they have not invested that much into the space, their own space capabilities, and most of them are dual use. That means, yes, there is an alternative such as a European Earth observation, the Copernicus. But the problem is, how do you integrate it and how quickly can you integrate it? Who is going to pay for it? So there are all those questions. And can they provide similar high resolution imagery in real time to the Ukrainian forces that is, say, compatible with the likes of Google Earth that can be used on mobile devices? So it's not going to be the same capability. And essentially, Ukraine will be losing time until this decision is being made. All right, we'll have to leave it there. Marina Maran, military analyst at Defence Studies Department in King's College London. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

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Ukraine Invasion