Hundreds of secret "magic eyes" help Ukraine deal with the Russian army

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 A series of private foreign companies have deployed spy satellites on Ukrainian territory to monitor the movements of Russian forces from the air.


According to the WSJ, after Russia launched a military campaign against Ukraine, the number and modern sophistication of commercial surveillance satellites, with hundreds of satellites in orbit, increased.


Ukrainian military forces hunting for Russian tanks and tracking troop movements are supported by private companies with images obtained from a number of commercial spy satellites across the country.


Some company officials say some sell data to Western governments and media outlets, while others send it directly to the government in Kiev to assist them in repelling Russian forces. , as well as for humanitarian groups to help them map the movement and evacuation of civilians.


Even before the Russian military "mobilized", satellite images showed some of the Kremlin's plans. When Moscow says Russian troops concentrated on the border are returning to base, satellites show the opposite, and that Russia has built a bridge from Belarus for tanks to cross the river into Ukraine.


Will Marshall, co-founder and chief executive officer of Planet Labs PBC, which works with the Pentagon and other military forces, said they were able to spot the bridge because about 200 satellites scanned the entire space. Ukraine once per day.


The images obtained by the satellites are of high resolution, which can detect changes on the ground.


In addition, data from commercial spacecraft may not be of the same high quality as those of the latest US spy satellites, but they can be easily shared without the hassle of security restrictions. .


Senior US national security officials and industry executives say affordable satellite rentals have changed the game, making it harder for Russia to hide its military actions.


Since so much information has been made public, it also makes it easier for US intelligence agencies to declassify and share some of their own secrets.


Planet Labs PBC and HawkEye 360 ​​are tracking Russian military movements and relaying this information to the Pentagon. MDA, a space technology company, said it is working with several other companies to provide images to the Ukrainian government. Meanwhile BlackSky, the company that tracks radio signals, is said to be providing data to unnamed customers.


"Commercial geospatial data related to the war in Ukraine, GPS was crucial to Operation Desert Storm 30 years ago," said John Serafini, CEO of HawkEye 360. refers to the US military's use of satellite navigation for precision operations during the 1991 Gulf War.


The role of spy satellites dates back to the early days of the space race.

Months after the Soviet Union launched its first artificial satellite, Sputnik, which transmitted radio signals, then-US President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a plan for the United States to develop and launch a spy satellite.


The four decades of US government monopoly began to change with the 1999 launch of the Ikonos satellite, a spacecraft that took pictures of the earth that provided users with good resolution.


Stephen Wood, senior director of satellite company Maxar, said the company could rearrange the onboard cameras to collect images of what's happening on the ground over a larger area, including the border areas with Ukraine.


While the intelligence agencies of other countries were once skeptical of commercial spy satellites, they are now excited.


US government spy satellites cost billions of dollars each and can take years to build and deploy. Meanwhile, commercial spy satellites are relatively inexpensive and can easily fill that void.


The Pentagon declined to provide details on the "commercial satellite imaging services" included in the security aid package to Ukraine announced on April 14.


Many companies also refuse to disclose specifically how they are assisting Ukraine for fear that they could be seen as directly involved in the conflict. However, some companies are more open about their contributions to Ukraine.


Russia has not commented on the use of private spy satellites by Kiev and the West in Ukraine. However, the Kremlin called Western arms shipments to Ukraine "legitimate targets" and destroyed some with missiles.

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