US cuts Ukraine’s access to Maxar satellite imagery and tactical radios

US cuts Ukraine’s access to Maxar satellite imagery and tactical radios

After President Donald Trump announced a “temporary” suspension of US aid to Ukraine on March 3, Kyiv fears that the US administration may now decide to shut down the entire network of Falcon III tactical radios, produced by L3Harris, currently used by Ukrainian forces.

Less well-known than SpaceX’s Starlink telecommunications terminals, this network is crucial as it is used by all radio stations of Kyiv’s ground forces.

Without this radio network, the military would be unable to ensure secure communication between various units. Kyiv estimates that Washington would need a week to deactivate the entire network, with no guarantees that the Pentagon would warn its former allies in advance.

The Trump administration already announced on March 6 that the flow of technical intelligence, satellite imagery, and intercepted communications would indeed be suspended. Unlike secure tactical radios – which could be replaced by networks from European suppliers such as Airbus Group or Turkey’s Aselsan, which can be locally produced – the loss of these data streams and optical images cannot be compensated.

No European supplier of optical reconnaissance images can compete with the US government and commercial satellite intelligence, either in terms of available data or ease of access to real-time streaming tools. In addition to imagery provided directly by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), data streams are contracted through the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which grants Kyiv access to visualization satellite constellations from Maxar and BlackSky, both actively used by Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

Reports indicate that US geospatial intelligence company Maxar Technologies has shut off Ukraine’s access to satellite imagery at the request of the Trump administration.

Details

Maxar Technologies Inc. is an American space technology company headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, United States, specializing in geospatial intelligence, Earth observation, and on-orbit servicing satellites, satellite products, and related services. DigitalGlobe and MDA Holdings Company merged to become Maxar Technologies on October 5, 2017. Maxar Technologies is the parent holding company of Maxar Space Systems, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, US; and Maxar Intelligence, headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, US. From 2017 to 2023, it was dual-listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange as MAXR. In May 2023, Maxar was acquired by private equity firm Advent International, in an all-cash transaction worth $6.4 billion.

L3Harris Technologies, Inc. is an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produces products for command and control systems, wireless equipment, tactical radios, avionics and electronic systems, night vision equipment, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems and products, ocean systems, instrumentation, navigation products, training devices and services, and both terrestrial/spaceborne antennas for use in the government, defense, and commercial sectors. The company was formed from the merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation on June 29, 2019, which made it the sixth-largest defense contractor in the United States.