Nokia, the Finnish network equipment maker, and ICEYE, the Finnish satellite company, have signed a Letter of Intent with Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence to develop a sovereign low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite communications capability, Developing Telecoms reported. The signing is dated 22 October by iTMunch; Developing Telecoms said it was revealed during a visit to Ukraine by Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo that Thursday.
Key facts
- Ukraine’s Defence Ministry signed the Letter of Intent on 22 October, days into a dispute over Starlink throttling the links its forces use to fly drones.
- The underlying Nokia–ICEYE partnership, announced on 1 October, covers secure LEO broadband for government and military buyers, with defence, border security, emergency response and disaster relief as the target missions, Yahoo Finance reported.
- The partners expect their first communications satellites to launch in 2028.
- No cost, constellation size, deployment schedule or procurement award has been attached to the Ukrainian system, iTMunch notes.
Why it matters
Developing Telecoms frames the episode as a demonstration of the risk governments take when critical satellite infrastructure sits with foreign companies closely tied to foreign governments. iTMunch puts the same point in operational terms: depending on a communications service someone else controls leaves uncertainty even once service is restored. Ukraine is not the only buyer drawing that conclusion — earlier this month Europe’s four largest satellite and space groups signed their own letter of intent on a Starlink rival, a parallel push by European industry to hold capacity it can answer for itself.
What the Nokia–ICEYE partnership is
ICEYE contributes satellite and ground-system expertise; Nokia supplies the networking that ties satellites, ground infrastructure and user terminals together. The design intent, as described by Yahoo Finance and Mena FN, is that one nation can own and operate all three layers itself.
“Nations must be able to fully own and control their communications without depending on a foreign commercial operator’s terms of service,” ICEYE chief executive and co-founder Rafal Modrzewski said in that announcement.
What it would cost
No price has been put on either the partnership’s systems or the Ukrainian capability. The ownership model shifts the bill: instead of paying a subscription on an operator’s terms, a buyer carries the capital cost of the satellites, the ground segment and the terminals, then runs them.
The closest public benchmark is what states currently pay for service they do not own. Britain’s Ministry of Defence spent nearly $40 million on SpaceX satellite services and held about 1,000 Starshield terminals and 500 Starlink terminals, Yahoo Finance reported, citing Reuters — making Britain the first country outside the United States to publicly acknowledge adopting Starshield, SpaceX’s military-focused service. That sum buys access, not a constellation, which is the comparison a sovereign build would have to beat over its life.
The Ukraine letter of intent
“Ukraine needs secure, sovereign and high-performance satellite communications systems that it controls,” Modrzewski told Developing Telecoms, adding that ICEYE has supported Ukraine since 2022 and remains committed to doing so. Neither published account says what that support has consisted of, or whether it feeds into the proposed network.
Mikko Hautala, Nokia’s chief geopolitical and government relations officer and chairman of Nokia Defense, said satellite networks extend and protect connectivity when ground networks are disrupted, and that the Letter of Intent will explore how trusted, sovereign satellite communications can strengthen Ukraine’s resilience.
Both companies’ announcements describe the document as an agreement to explore cooperation in space, with the stated aim of strengthening Ukraine’s defence capabilities. iTMunch cautions against reading the partnership’s wider ambition as an operational Ukrainian network.
The throttling dispute behind the timing
The Letter of Intent came shortly after Starlink throttled connections for Ukrainian armed forces using its military-grade Starshield network to operate drones, Developing Telecoms reports. Who ordered the restriction is contested: Elon Musk and Donald Trump each pointed at the other, while Reuters placed the order inside the White House and reported Musk’s allegation that Ukraine had violated Starlink’s terms of service. Musk and Trump have given different accounts of who runs Starshield, and our earlier coverage tracked the speed limits placed on Ukraine’s terminals.
What still has to be built
Beyond spacecraft, iTMunch lists ground infrastructure, user terminals, launch capacity and integration with the systems that will use the network. Space Capital founder Chad Anderson put a credible alternative two to three years away, with matching Starlink’s scale taking longer, in comments to CNBC — an outside analyst’s estimate, not a schedule from Ukraine, Nokia or ICEYE. SpaceX, meanwhile, keeps adding capacity: Yahoo Finance notes a recent Starship launch carrying 26 Starlink V3 satellites.
Background
The announcement landed as European governments increasingly buy SpaceX’s satellite services, with Starlink — one of the world’s largest LEO internet networks — relied on for military communications and drone operations, particularly in Ukraine. Nokia is also expanding its UK defence work through a recent partnership with C3IA covering communications, autonomous technologies and other military technologies.
Investors shrugged. Nokia’s US-listed ADRs edged up 0.7% in pre-market trading on the day of the partnership announcement, and retail sentiment on Nokia at Stocktwits stayed bearish over the surrounding 24 hours, per Yahoo Finance and Mena FN.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Letter of Intent mean Ukraine is dropping Starlink?
No. iTMunch stresses that the public information does not establish that a new Ukrainian network is built, funded or ready, and describes the document as an option-building step rather than a replacement for Starlink.
Is Starlink service for Ukraine’s military back to normal?
Accounts differ. Via Reuters, iTMunch reports that on 24 October Ukraine said Starlink and Starshield were again running at pre-restriction speeds, with the Defence Ministry calling the connection stable above 400 kilometres per hour. Developing Telecoms separately reports that The Kyiv Independent, quoting a Ukrainian official, said speed restrictions remained in force.
Could ordinary Starlink customers buy a connection on a sovereign network like this?
Not on the evidence so far. The Nokia–ICEYE systems are pitched at states that would own the hardware outright, and neither the October partnership announcement nor the Ukraine Letter of Intent sets any consumer pricing, retail packages or availability dates.
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