ICEYE and Nokia to Develop Satellite Communications System for Military Use

Finnish space company ICEYE and Nokia have agreed to jointly develop secure broadband satellite communication systems for government and military customers.

This was reported by ICEYE.

The future system is designed to provide governments with their own secure satellite communications without the need to engage a third-party commercial operator.

The customer will have control over the entire infrastructure — satellites, ground segment, and user terminals. The partners plan to launch the first communications satellites into orbit in 2028.

The system will operate in low Earth orbit and is designed to provide communications coverage over specific mission areas.

The developers envision the system complementing existing military or commercial communications networks. Particular attention will be paid to operations in situations where ground-based networks are damaged, inaccessible, or compromised. This communication system is intended for use by the military, border services, emergency responders, and other government agencies.

As part of the partnership, ICEYE will contribute its expertise in the development and operation of satellite systems, while Nokia will integrate its own secure telecommunications network technologies.

The companies plan to combine the space segment, ground infrastructure, and secure user terminals — all adapted for operation in challenging conditions—into a single system.

“Governments must be able to fully own and control their communications without relying on the terms of service provided by foreign commercial operators… Our collaboration with Nokia allows us to move at the same pace in the field of satellite communications, meeting the deadlines required by governments,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE.

Nokia, for its part, is already developing a separate line of secure communications for defense customers. Specifically, in June 2026, Nokia and KNDS unveiled a solution to provide 5G connectivity for military and unmanned systems based on deployed Banshee networks.

The European Union is simultaneously developing its own secure satellite capabilities. In January 2026, Militarnyi reported on the launch of part of the Govsatcom network, which consolidates the government satellite capabilities of EU countries and is intended to provide secure military and government communications under European control.

In March 2025, the EU held negotiations with SES, Hisdesat, Viasat, and Eutelsat/OneWeb regarding providing Ukraine with backup satellite communications as an alternative to Starlink.

For ICEYE, this is not the first initiative to create a national satellite communications system for the military. In September, ICEYE and the Polish defense group PGZ signed an agreement to jointly develop a MILSATCOM system for the Polish Armed Forces.

In 2022, Ukraine received one of ICEYE’s satellites and access to the company’s constellation data.

In January 2026, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and ICEYE signed a new agreement to expand the Ukrainian military’s access to the company’s satellite data.