PARIS — Finland’s ICEYE has a “very big role to play” in giving Europe sovereign access to satellite intelligence, without having to rely on the United States, the company’s Vice President for Missions Joost Elstak said.

European interest in ICEYE rose after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. But it was the U.S. halting intelligence sharing with Ukraine in March 2025 that really underscored the need for sovereign access to space-based intel, Elstak told Defense News.

“The key thing it proved is that you need independent capabilities, and you need a strong alliance,” he said. “You can’t rely on just one node, whoever that node may be.”

Space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, was seen as the toughest area for Europe to achieve self-sufficiency , according to a

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