Nokia and ICEYE to help Ukraine develop sovereign LEO satellite comms

Details: John Tanner; Category: Satellite Networks; 23 October 2026; 1782 views

Nokia and ICEYE have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence to develop the country’s sovereign LEO satellite communications capability, shortly after Starlink throttled connections for Ukrainian forces.

The announcement comes several weeks after ICEYE and Nokia formed a partnership to develop secure, sovereign and high-performance broadband LEO satellite communications systems for governments, supporting missions from defense and border security to emergency services and disaster response.

The jointly developed satellite communications systems are designed to give nations ownership and control of satellites, ground segment and terminals.

The LOI with the Ministry of Defence was revealed during a visit by Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo to Ukraine on Thursday.

The LOI also comes after last week’s news that LEO satellite operator Starlink has been throttling connection speeds for Ukrainian armed forces that use its military-grade Starshield network to operate drones.

Starlink CEO Elon Musk and US president Donald Trump have pointed the finger at each other in terms who gave the order to throttle the network in Ukraine. Reuters reported last week that the order came from inside the White House.

However, in the context of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in 2022, both Musk and Trump have close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Trump has in the past few weeks lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports and waived new sanctions against Russian officials, oligarchs, banks and state enterprises, whilst also pressuring Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to stop drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and data centres.

In any case, the incident has highlighted the problem of governments using critical satellite infrastructure owned by foreign companies who have strong ties to foreign governments that may be hostile to their interests.

“Ukraine needs secure, sovereign and high-performance satellite communications systems that it controls,” said ICEYE CEO and co-founder Rafal Modrzewski in a statement. “We have a proven track record of delivering sovereign missions at speed to help build that capability. ICEYE has proudly supported Ukraine since 2022, and we remain committed to continuing that support today.”

“Satellite networks extend and protect connectivity when networks on the ground are disrupted. This makes them a key part of any secure communications system,” added Mikko Hautala, chief geopolitical and government relations officer and chairman of Nokia Defense. “Through this Letter of Intent, together with Ukraine and ICEYE, we will explore how trusted, sovereign satellite communications can strengthen Ukraine's resilience and give it control over the connectivity it depends on.”

As for Starlink’s Starshield service, Trump said on Friday that full connectivity has been restored to Ukraine’s military, according to the BBC. However, just before we posted this story, The Kyiv Independent reported that speed restrictions remain in force, quoting a Ukrainian official.