Ukraine has a satellite up, and no one has been clear about what it is called. HIMERA, a Ukrainian firm, and Denmark’s GomSpace sent a test spacecraft aloft for a sovereign communications network, aiming to loosen Kyiv’s reliance on Starlink after service restrictions cut battlefield links.
What went up and why
Named OBRIA Nano, it rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Transporter-18 rideshare of October 1. Checks now under way should inform the constellation’s design, meant to cover Ukraine while dovetailing with European networks. HIMERA, founded in 2022, supplies encrypted tactical radios designed for electronic warfare, and GomSpace makes small satellites and their internals.
An identity problem in the manifest
One loose thread remains. Both firms cite October 1, the day that mission carried a Ukrainian satellite listed by SpaceX as UASAT-NANO. GomSpace also runs a venture with Ukrainian satcom firm STETMAN under the UASAT name. Aligned dates, one manufacturer and matching aims suggest one craft under two names. Neither has clarified the relationship, or STETMAN’s part. A later phase would move satellite and ground-terminal production into Ukraine.
The numbers behind the ambition
The UASAT constellation would sit near 550 kilometers, or 342 miles, in low Earth orbit, hardened against jamming. GomSpace would build the first batch before production migrates to Ukraine. Secure government and military traffic comes first, with 30,000 to 50,000 terminals due in 2027 and room for 100,000 per country, then allied states. By 2027 the plan envisions 120 spacecraft, after which yearly launches would pass 100. All of it is planning.
A second track: Finland’s ICEYE and Nokia signed a letter of intent with Ukraine’s defense ministry October 22 on a sovereign low-orbit satcom system, launches eyed for 2028, with no procurement order attached.
