Finnish giant ICEYE to build signature radar microsatellites in India, offers full control to govt

Company builds microsatellites that are smaller, faster, cheaper to produce. ICEYE will develop & launch micro-satellites, hand them over to India, which will have full control & sovereignty.

Representational image of Finnish firm ICEYE's synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite | ICEYE

New Delhi: Finnish company ICEYE, which has the world’s largest synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation and a major player in defence and security, is planning to set up a manufacturing and assembly facility in India, ThePrint has learnt.

Incidentally, India is an existing customer of the company when it comes to the ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) grid for border surveillance. It has provided the Government of India access to over 10,000 images with up to 20 revisit opportunities a day, with a turnaround commitment of one day.

The success of the company comes from building microsatellites that are smaller, faster, and cheaper to produce. This allows satellites to be used in clusters, providing much faster and more accurate data than traditional solutions.

Sources in the know said that besides its current support to India, ICEYE is now eager to deepen its commitment to the Indian market from a mission perspective.

The goal is to support sovereign capability, self-reliance, and national preparedness through the sovereign ownership of space assets.

It is learnt that ICEYE is offering its own satellite with full control to India, something that the company has done with other countries too.

This means the company will develop and launch micro-satellites and then hand them over to the Indian authority, which will have full control and sovereignty.

SAR satellites are a type of Earth Observation Satellites that use radar technology to create images of the Earth’s surface.

What makes it better than traditional optical satellites is that they can operate round the clock in all weather conditions while also penetrating clouds and thick vegetation.

Incidentally, an Indian consortium led by Bengaluru-based space tech company PixxelSpace will now design, build and operate the country’s first fully indigenous commercial Earth Observation satellite series.

The consortium bagged Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’s (IN-SPACe) contract to launch a 12-satellite constellation for the next five years.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)