The Trump administration’s temporary halt to sharing commercial space imagery with Ukraine was a major concern for the affected companies who are worried that other international customers might not see the U.S. as a reliable partner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday.
In addition to the commercial space industry, other U.S. technology companies have said the stoppage in imagery sharing “has sent and enormous chill” through the commercial sector, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said during the committee’s annual hearing with senior intelligence community officials on the global threats the U.S. faces.
“Who’s going to hire an American commercial space company, government or foreign business with the ability to have that taken down so arbitrarily?” Warner said in his opening statement.
The U.S. early in March briefly paused providing military aid and intelligence data to Ukraine after a contentious White House meeting in late February failed to result in a commitment by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to a cease fire with Russia. Zelensky later committed to a partial ceasefire and the U.S. resumed aid to Ukraine (Defense Daily, March 11).
Warner said that the U.S. commercial space industry, including communications, launch vehicles, and remote sensing, has a “record lead” and “is second to none” but “overnight this administration called into question the reliability of American commercial tech industry.”
Warner specifically mentioned “Maxar and other commercial space companies” being directed to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
Maxar owns and operates a fleet of remote sensing electro-optical satellites and also operates the Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery program for the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to provide satellite imagery to the U.S. government and other partners.
While the information sharing pause was in effect with Ukraine, Maxar on March 8 said “Ukraine is not a direct Maxar customer, and any disruption would be the result of another customer’s individual decision to change its intelligence sharing policy.” The company also sought to assuage concerns of its international customers.
“As a private, global company, we continue to support these customers as they work towards delivering on their sovereign priorities,” the company also said on March 8.