By: Suman Sharma, Guest Author, GSDN
ICEYE, the European leader in sovereign intelligence from space, and Nokia, a global leader in connectivity infrastructure, both Finnish companies, earlier this month announced a partnership to develop secure, sovereign and high-performance broadband low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications systems for governments, supporting missions from defence and border security to emergency services and disaster response. Built on trusted European technology, the jointly developed satellite communications systems will give nations ownership and control of the satellites, ground segment and terminals. The first communications satellites are expected to be launched in 2028.
Mikko Kivikoski, the new Ambassador of Finland to India, at his maiden press interaction confirmed the launch of the partnership between both the companies, founded in Finland originally, and spoke about the dual-use sovereign satellite communications systems owned and operated by the nations that use them.
When terrestrial networks are disrupted or compromised, security forces, first responders and civil authorities risk losing access to the information and command systems they depend on. Governments therefore need resilient communications infrastructure that remains available under the most demanding conditions, and that they can fully own and control.
The jointly developed sovereign systems will deliver targeted, high-ouputt, low-latency connectivity over priority mission areas. Designed to complement military and commercial networks rather than replace them, it will add reach, resilience and capacity, helping governments and defence organisations maintain critical connections wherever operations take place.
Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE, said: “Together with Nokia, we are building on our proven space intelligence expertise and delivering sovereign, high-performance satellite communications. Nations must be able to fully own and control their communications, without dependency on a foreign commercial operator’s terms of service. We delivered Poland its own radar satellite system in under a year. Partnering with Nokia lets us move at a similar speed for satellite communications, on the timelines nations need.”
The partnership brings together ICEYE’s track record delivering sovereign satellite missions with Nokia’s extensive experience in secure networking technologies and growing defence portfolio. Together, the companies will integrate satellites, ground infrastructure and ruggedized end-user terminals to extend ICEYE’s sovereign intelligence from space business model to satellite communications.
“Sovereign operations depend on the ability to sense, decide and act in real time. Physical AI makes that possible, but only with secure, resilient connectivity across land, sea, air and space. By bringing together Nokia’s trusted networks with ICEYE’s proven sovereign space capabilities, we will deliver a satellite communications capability complementing existing terrestrial networks, and giving nations the situational awareness, connectivity, and control they need to operate with confidence in contested environments across all domains”, said Justin Hotard, President and CEO of Nokia.
