MapLab: Monitoring the Invasion of Ukraine from Outer Space
Smoke on Snake Island in Ukraine, captured by a Planet satellite in June.
Credit: Planet
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is being monitored by the watchful eyes of commercial satellites like no other conflict before.
Private companies such as Maxar Technologies, Planet, BlackSky and Capella Space sell the imagery obtained by their satellites to private clients as well as government and military agencies. Some provide their imagery to news organizations for free, and have been doing so at an accelerated pace since February.