Halifax International Security Forum, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, is trying to raise $10 million to build a satellite group for Ukraine. Earth Observation company Satellogic was selected to produce satellites after the fundraiser, said Ryan McKinney, vice president and general manager of Satellogic North America, in an interview with GEOINT symposium.
Halifax International established the Victory Fund of Ukraine to raise $ 10 million “for the purchase of Ukraine’s own specialized satellite group with several high-resolution satellites registered under the Ukrainian flag.”
The US government and commercial satellite operators provide images to the Ukrainian government. But Halifax International believes that Ukraine would be better prepared to meet its security needs if it had its own group. “This would allow Ukraine to monitor everything from the movement of Russian soldiers to identifying evacuation routes for millions of refugees,” the group said.
McKinney said he could not yet discuss the cost estimates or the number of satellites Satellogic would make for Ukraine. According to him, the presence of their own constellation “will give them some control over their fate.”
Satellogic manufactures satellites at its plant in the Netherlands. Founded in 2010 in Argentina, the company is now a global operator with a presence in the United States. Satellogic became a public company earlier this year following a merger with a special acquisition company.
The company operates a team of 22 multispectral satellites with submeter resolution and plans to continue to launch satellites quarterly, told SpaceNews Vice President of Global Business Development at Satellogic Thomas VanMatre. The new satellite model has a resolution of 70 cm. The company’s goal is to deploy 200 satellites to obtain daily global images of the Earth.
You can also help Ukraine fight with Russian occupants via Savelife or via an official page of the National Bank of Ukraine.
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