Serhiy Prytula, head of the Serhiy Prytula Foundation which fundraises for the Ukrainian Army, announced that he has purchased a satellite and access to a database of ICEYE satellite images.
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1560319176195117058?t=mr2CW8d5QsCD1JKBuNPkmg&s=19
Ukrainians initially gathered the $16mn needed for this project to buy three Bayraktar combat drones, but the Turkish Baykar factory decided to gift the drones to Ukrainians. So, Prytula spent the money to buy the satellite.
He stated that Ukraine’s Army will now have rapid access to high-resolution imagery that will help plan operations.
“ICEYE owns the most developed radar satellite imaging technology in the world as of today. This agreement is a significant step in responding to the Government of Ukraine’s urgent request for critical earth observation data and it will greatly benefit our Armed Forces,” he explained.
A statement on Prytula’s website says that the Foundation has signed a deal with ICEYE giving the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense full access to all systems and capabilities of one satellite already in orbit. It will allow the Ukrainian Army to receive radar satellite imagery on critical locations with a high revisit frequency.
The Management of Strategic Operations of Ukraine’s Army explained that ICEYE satellites can scan objects on Earth under any weather conditions and any time of the day with the synthesized radar aperture (SAR), which allows remote sensing at any time of day and in all weather conditions.