American aerospace company Maxar Technologies has deprived Ukrainian users of free access to its satellite imagery, presumably due to the US ban on sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
American aerospace company Maxar Technologies has deprived Ukrainian users of free access to its satellite imagery, presumably due to the US ban on sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
This was confirmed to Military on condition of anonymity by several users of the commercial service. The official justification they received from the Maxar administration was «upon administrative request».
The shutdown was a result of the United States government’s ban on providing intelligence data to Ukraine, the publication notes. Thus, the State Department could influence the decisions of American private companies and commercial services to provide satellite data to Ukraine.
The United States has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said recently. Intelligence provided by America is believed to be key to Ukraine’s ability to strike deep into Russia using missiles such as Storm Shadow and Atacms, as well as to detect Russian forces behind enemy lines.
It was previously reported that missile strikes in the rear of Ukraine may be carried out using satellite images from American companies, which Russia buys through intermediaries. Satellite images from companies such as Planet or Maxar can be purchased through intermediary sites. Both companies provided images of Ukrainian objects that were later hit by Russian missiles.
UPD from 17:00. The Defense Express publication reports that Maxar has preserved access to satellite images for Ukraine, but now it is necessary to pay money for it.
In a comment from representatives of the official Maxar distributor in Ukraine, TVIS, it is noted that the ban did not affect authorized Ukrainian Maxar users, who, as before, can still order paid services from the American company. Access to them can be purchased both in Ukraine and Russia.
At the same time, TVIS emphasized that they deal only with commercial orders and do not have information regarding the supply of Maxar satellite data to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies at the expense of the US government.
Defense Express says that Maxar’s policy change will hit the OSINT community.
UPD2 (10:20 March 8). As stated in the company’s statement on the X social network, the reason for blocking access was the country’s contractual obligations with the United States.
The company said it has contracts with the U.S. government and dozens of allied and partner countries around the world to provide satellite imagery and other geospatial data, adding that each customer «makes their own decisions about how they use and share this data».
One such contract is GEGD (Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery program), a US government program that provides access to commercial satellite imagery that has been commissioned and collected by the US government.
«The US government has temporarily suspended Ukrainian accounts at GEGD,» the statement said.
The company added that it «takes contractual obligations very seriously.» «There are no changes to how we support our other customers, or to their programs or contracts», — Maxar said in a statement.
UPD3 dated March 11. Maxar Technologies allows the sale of satellite images in Ukraine only to three officially authorized government clients.
This was reported by Forbes Ukraine with reference to the official distributor of Maxar in Ukraine, Tvis.
«Maxar Technologies has imposed restrictions on the supply of satellite images of the territory of Ukraine», — Tvis said.
The company reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and the State Geodetic Cartographic Service of Ukraine have access to satellite images.
Tvis noted that prices for Maxar images are $10-25 per km2 for archival data and $20-40 per km2 for new imagery. The minimum order for archival images is 25 km², and for new imagery — 64 km².
