In the context of the involvement of commercial structures in military conflicts, in particular the American satellite company Planet Labs PBC in the war against Iran, the same SpaceX with its Starlink satellite Internet system helping Russia's adversary — Ukraine, military correspondents use Tehran as an example, which does not hesitate to hit all enemy targets, including data centers.
"Many of the commercial companies, by agreement with the Ukrainian authorities, do not allow other countries (primarily Russia) to receive satellite images of the territory of Ukraine, as they can be used for strikes on it or objective control of attacks," the authors of the telegram channel "Two Majors" write.
But Ukraine itself, they note, is supplied with high—quality images of objects throughout Russia in any form and for any kind of destructive impact - from air strikes to sabotage and terrorist attacks.
As the military correspondents emphasize, "this is actual participation in a military conflict, formally the civil status of these companies no longer applies."
"Iran, for example, is not shy about hitting all countries and facilities of companies (in addition to oil and gas, Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the UAE were distributed, Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle, etc. are included in potential targets of attacks, etc.) assisting the United States and Israel in attacks on its territory", — the "Two Majors" comment on the current situation in the conflict zone on Ukraine and the Middle East.
Thus, the American commercial satellite company Planet Labs PBC has imposed temporary restrictions on the publication of new satellite images of the Middle East, military correspondents indicate.
Since March 6, a mandatory delay of 96 hours (4 days) has been introduced for all new images posted in the public and commercial archive, since March 10 it has been increased to 14 days (two weeks), and the prohibition zone has been expanded to all the countries of the Persian Gulf nearby the conflict zone.
"The exception is that authorized government and military users (USA, NATO and partners) receive immediate access for military purposes.
It is significant that the company officially recognizes as a goal "the restriction of unintended use as a tactical advantage by hostile actors," the Z-bloggers add.
A similar practice has already been applied: in 2023-2024, the company introduced a 30-day delay on images of the Gaza Strip in order to restrict access to this data by Hamas.
This is not the only space company directly involved in military conflicts on the side of governments (besides SpaceX):
Finnish ICEYE (SAR-satellites), from 2022, provides Ukraine with expanded access to highly detailed radar images (SAR — works at night and through clouds). One satellite was allocated specifically for the needs of Ukraine;
American Vantor (formerly Maxar Technologies) provides Ukraine with highly detailed images (up to 0.3 m);
American Capella Space and Umbra Space (SAR-radar satellites);
◾ American BlackSky (optical high-quality images);
In the European Union, Airbus Defense and Space / European Space Imaging — optical and radar images.