Two months before a deadly terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam region, a noticeable surge in satellite image requests of the area has prompted serious concerns within India’s defence and scientific communities.
Between 2 and 22 February 2025, Maxar Technologies — a leading U.S.-based satellite imagery provider — received 12 separate orders for high-resolution images of Pahalgam and nearby regions. This figure is double the usual number of requests for that location, sparking suspicion among analysts and national security experts, especially in the wake of the April 22 attack that claimed 26 lives.
Adding to the unease is Maxar’s recent partnership with Business Systems International Pvt Ltd (BSI), a Pakistan-based geospatial firm linked to past violations of U.S. federal export laws. Though current data does not specify whether BSI placed the recent image orders, experts believe the timing and nature of the spike are too coincidental to ignore.
BSI’s founder, Obaidullah Syed, a Pakistani-American, was convicted in the U.S. for illegally exporting high-performance computing equipment and software to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)—an organization involved in the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. U.S. authorities had flagged PAEC as a threat to national and global security. Syed served a year-long sentence and forfeited over $247,000 in illicit gains.
“The fact that Maxar partnered with a firm with such a background raises red flags,” said a source familiar with Maxar’s client network. “India must push for greater accountability from global space tech companies when it comes to strategic data sharing.”
In addition to Pahalgam, image orders also covered Pulwama, Anantnag, Poonch, Rajouri, and Baramulla — all militarily sensitive districts in Jammu and Kashmir. Each image costs upwards of ₹3 lakh, depending on the resolution.
India’s leading defence and space experts have voiced concern about the increasing accessibility of high-resolution satellite imagery, which can provide detailed views of infrastructure, troop movements, and even individual facial profiles when taken at a resolution below 10 centimeters.
“Commercial satellite services have boosted global intelligence and surveillance capabilities but also pose a risk if misused by non-state actors,” said Lt. Gen. AK Bhatt (retd), Director General of the Indian Space Association (ISpA).
Maxar, known for its satellites offering resolutions between 15 cm and 30 cm, has not responded to inquiries from ThePrint regarding the buyers or the purpose behind these specific image orders.
While Maxar subscribers can view images ordered by others, the identities of the requesters remain confidential unless the imagery is classified as strategic. As such, tracing the origin of the recent orders remains difficult without Maxar’s cooperation.
The latest order for satellite images of Pahalgam was placed on 12 April—just ten days before the attack. Two more requests were made shortly after the incident, on 24 and 29 April, but none since.
BSI’s role as a Maxar partner involves acting as a product integrator and reseller, not just a customer. The company claims to offer services in high-performance computing, GIS, data mining, and control systems. However, past actions and ongoing concerns around its founder have kept it on the radar of Indian and U.S. intelligence communities.
Despite these concerns, Maxar, as a private enterprise, is under no binding obligation to prioritize any specific country’s national interests. India, still reliant on foreign surveillance data as it scales up its satellite infrastructure, continues to face vulnerability from such global data-sharing networks.
“Depending on external entities for surveillance and reconnaissance poses obvious risks,” an ISRO scientist noted. “They don’t owe loyalty to any country — they respond to paying clients.”
India currently regulates access to high-resolution satellite imagery through its Remote Sensing Data Policy and Geospatial Data Guidelines. These policies restrict detailed imaging of critical security areas, but enforcement remains a challenge when the data is sourced from outside national jurisdiction.
As India bolsters its space surveillance capabilities in the coming years, experts suggest urgent diplomatic engagement and tighter international regulation to prevent the misuse of commercial satellite imagery in conflict-prone regions.