How US commercial space companies intervene in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine

The recent disclosure of all strategic and military facilities in Russia by Google maps has triggered widespread heated debate around the world. Although Google denied the relevant reports, from the perspective of the development and changes of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, American commercial space companies have been involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine for the first time and "shine brightly", which has become an important tool for the United States to provide strategic and tactical support to Ukraine.
Previously, the news spread on social media said that "Google map has disclosed all Russia's strategic and military facilities". In Google map, you can see high-definition images of sensitive facilities such as various intercontinental ballistic missile silos, command posts and secret shooting ranges in Russia, with a resolution of 0.5 meters. Although Google responded that it had not made any changes to the audit method of Russian satellite images, military experts told the global times that Google's attitude towards the United States and Russia was very different, at least in terms of standards involving sensitive military targets.
Since the emergence and wide application of "Google Earth", "Google map" and other programs, India, South Korea, Israel, Britain, Australia and other countries have successively admitted that "a large number of important targets have been exposed". The United States was the first to establish a protection system against "Google Earth". The Pentagon requires that the US satellite photos released by "Google Earth" must be screened and blurred in sensitive areas. In some places, the resolution is less than 15 meters, and some more critical military bases are simply mosaic "hidden". Today, when using Google Earth to search the map of the United States, we often find some small pieces of gray "mosaics", which are actually sensitive areas of the United States.
According to Google's business rules, maps involving sensitive areas should be processed according to the requirements of the host country before they are released. Therefore, although Google denied external rumors this time, it is enough to prove that it has long disclosed high-resolution photos of sensitive Russian military facilities. It is difficult to imagine that these photos have been approved by Russia. In fact, this can also be seen as a silent warning to Russia - the US commercial satellite Department has mastered the situation of sensitive military bases in Russia, not to mention more professional US military institutions.
The Russian Ukrainian conflict is considered to be a "national report" military conflict. One of the important reasons is the strong intervention of American commercial satellite company. Since the high-profile announcement by the US government that Russia may launch military operations against Ukraine on February 20, the US commercial remote sensing satellite in space has closely focused on the activities of the Russian army in Belarus and the southeastern border zone of Ukraine, and continuously output and release satellite pictures through the media to explain and judge the time, direction and intention of the Russian army's actions, and provide intelligence support for the US western countries and the Ukrainian army.
David Gautier, head of the commercial satellite cooperation project of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency of the United States, recently publicly admitted that the agency, together with the National Reconnaissance Office, an important intelligence agency in charge of reconnaissance satellites for the U.S. military, has cooperated with more than 100 commercial companies to analyze and interpret satellite images of the battlefield in Ukraine. At present, at least 200 pictures taken by commercial satellites are used. Satellite images from commercial satellite companies such as maxar, blacksky and planet "can flow directly to important international media, the US military European Command, NATO and Ukraine". In addition, U.S. intelligence agencies also cooperate with companies such as Hawkeye 360, which use satellites to detect RF signals and help identify electronic interference sources that may damage U.S. communications or GPS satellite signals.
In addition to commercial remote sensing satellites, commercial communication satellites are also involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In the Russian Ukrainian conflict, the Russian army used ballistic missiles, anti radiation missiles and cruise missiles to attack and interfere with military and civilian communication facilities in Ukraine. At the beginning of the conflict, the military communication network of the Ukrainian army was paralyzed, but the Ukrainian army's command layer maintained the command of the army by relying on civilian communication equipment, satellite communication telephone and other equipment. At the same time, at the request of Ukraine, musk, CEO of SpaceX, also provided "star chain" ground terminal equipment for the Ukrainian government and people to link to the Internet.
Although in theory, the Russian army has many ways to counter the military reconnaissance satellites and commercial remote sensing satellites of the United States. For example, during the mechanized march in the high-intensity and fierce confrontation and complex battlefield environment, the Russian army will also deploy certain anti reconnaissance measures, including implementing smoke shielding when the satellite passes the top, increasing strict camouflage or arranging a large number of false targets, and using more powerful jamming signals to jam the satellite signals, Active and passive radar countermeasure technology is even adopted to counter the reconnaissance of synthetic aperture radar satellites. However, because countermeasures usually have certain constraints on the process of military action, especially when more than 200 commercial remote sensing satellites are involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the blade space of Russian military countermeasures is not optimistic.