SAN FRANCISCO — EOS Data Analytics asked Earth observation companies worldwide to share up-to-date optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery of Ukraine and neighboring countries to assist Ukrainian military and humanitarian efforts.
U.S. imagery providers, though, could be prevented from working directly with EOS Data Analytics owner Noosphere Venture Partners, which was added in December to the U.S. government list of individuals and organizations not permitted to receive federal contracts or assistance. The notice published on the SAM.gov website cited the U.S. Air Force as the excluding agency but gave no explanation for the entry. SpaceNews confirmed Noosphere Venture Partners’ inclusion on the Excluded Parties List System after Tim Fernholz of Quartz tweeted a statement attributed to SAR-provider Capella saying it could not help EOS Data Analytics since “certain parties” associated with the request are on the list.
EOS Data Analytics of Menlo Park, California, is a portfolio company of Noosphere Venture Partners, an investment firm based in the United States with offices throughout Ukraine. Both companies were founded by Ukrainian-born entrepreneur Max Polyakov, who is in the process of selling its stake in Firefly Aerospace, another Noosphere Venture company, to AE Industrial Partners. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States asked Polyakov to divest his stake in the launch vehicle developer.
