How Satellite Technologies Are Transforming Ukraine: From Warzones to Wheat Fields
In August 2022, a Ukrainian charity crowdfunded access to an ICEYE SAR satellite, providing 24/7 all-weather imaging from one satellite and access to ICEYE’s full constellation for over a year. Commercial high-resolution imagery from Maxar, Planet Labs, and BlackSky documented battlefield events such as Russian troop buildups and missile strikes. Analysts have described the Russia-Ukraine war as the most documented conflict in history thanks to the avalanche of satellite data. After the 2022 invasion, SpaceX shipped thousands of Starlink user terminals to Ukraine, and by 2024 Starlink was a reliable frontline communications partner. In February 2022, commercial satellites captured a