(Bloomberg) -- MDA Ltd. received permission from the Canadian government to use its satellites to track the movement of troops and equipment in Ukraine, putting the space-technology firm into the military intelligence operation that’s fighting Russia’s invasion. 

MDA’s synthetic aperture radar can see through weather to measure changes in the landscape nearly in real time. The company will now be authorized to use it across all of Ukraine and surrounding waterways and feed the images to groups acquiring intelligence for the Ukrainian government, Chief Executive Officer Mike Greenley said in an interview.  

The satellites can detect even small changes and make the pictures available in as little as 15 minutes, Greenley said. That includes troop movements, vehicle or equipment convoys, ships and changes to infrastructure such as bridges or buildings, he said. 

“I feel it’s important that we are aligned with our governments and our allies in this effort,” Greenley said. “It will be a revenue opportunity, but the most important thing is that we’re able to provide the imagery and be helpful.” 

The company had “small levels” of business with Russia that have now stopped as a result of sanctions, he said. 

MDA went public last year on the Toronto Stock Exchange, one year after it was acquired by a Canadian investment group from Maxar Technologies Inc. The shares were up about 1% at C$9 as of 12:36 p.m. in Toronto on Tuesday. They’ve fallen 36% since the initial public offering.  

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