ICEYE and Nokia have signed a Letter of Intent with Ukraine's Ministry of Defence to explore cooperation on sovereign satellite communications. The document is exploratory and does not bind either company to a procurement or deployment contract, and no pricing, delivery timetable or terminal volumes were disclosed alongside it.
The announcement was made during a visit by Finland's Prime Minister to Ukraine, and it builds on a partnership the two companies announced earlier this month to develop broadband low Earth orbit satellite communications systems for governments.
Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, framed secure communications as a national security matter, saying modern warfare has shown that reliable connectivity cannot be taken for granted and that the country must rely on capabilities it can control. He described the letter between the defence ministry, ICEYE and Nokia as an important step in that direction, and thanked Finland for its consistent support.
Three layers of ownership
The systems the two companies are developing together are intended to give nations ownership and control across three layers: the satellites themselves, the ground segment and the user terminals. Buying capacity on a foreign-operated constellation works differently, because a vendor sets continuity terms and can withdraw service under political pressure.
Both companies describe the architecture as built on trusted European technology, presented as their answer to dependence on non-European platforms. The declared mission set covers defence work and disaster response.
Mikko Hautala, Chief Geopolitical & Government Relations Officer and Chairman of Nokia Defense, said nations need communications they can rely on in every situation, and that satellite networks extend and protect connectivity when networks on the ground are disrupted. Through the letter, he said, the parties will explore how trusted, sovereign satellite communications can strengthen Ukraine's resilience and give it control over the connectivity it depends on.
Why low Earth orbit
Low Earth orbit constellations fly closer to the ground than geostationary satellites, which is the engineering basis for lower-latency broadband to moving units and mobile terminals. Nokia's characterisation turns on the difference between owning a constellation and renting capacity on one: a government that holds the ground segment and terminals controls its own continuity arrangements.
Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE, said Ukraine needs secure, sovereign and high-performance satellite communications systems that it controls. He said the company has a track record of delivering sovereign missions at speed and has supported Ukraine since 2022.
What sits outside the letter
No figure was disclosed for spacecraft, ground stations or user terminals, and no schedule has been published for when a Ukrainian-controlled constellation might carry operational traffic. Turning intent into hardware means programme funding, spectrum coordination and a trained operator cadre, work that sits outside the letter's scope, which commits the parties only to exploring cooperation.
Ukraine's defence ministry therefore holds an option on a sovereign satellite communications pathway it would have to fund and specify itself, with European vendors waiting on the requirement.