Defence in brief: ICEYE launches 4 new satellites

ICEYE, the Finnish satellite company, has added four new 25 cm resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites to its constellation following a successful launch and integration from the Vandenburg Space Force base in California on the 15th of March, a company press release states. 

This follows a December launch that added two 25 cm resolution SAR satellites to the constellation, bringing the total number of ICEYE satellites in orbit up to 40 at the time. This launch brings the company up to its goal of having 48 satellites in orbit providing a twice daily revisit time for most locations. This is ICEYE’s second launch of 2025, the first was in January. The company plans to launch 20 satellites a year in 2025 and 2026. Nine satellites were added to the constellation in 2024. 

The four new satellites include the ICEYE 4th generation satellite, which doubles the size of the radar antenna and its power, allowing the image swath width to be increased from 150 km to 400 km and the information density in each image to be increased by 30%, the press release states. Further details on the 4th generation satellite will be released in coming weeks. 

These changes are designed to improve target detection and identification, which can be challenging with SAR, especially when there is a lot of ground clutter. However, artificial intelligence is being used to help identify objects on the ground, which can ease the burden on the operators and improve identification rates. ICEYE has partnered with SATIM to develop AI-enabled SAR products in February 2025 and the two companies plan to release products later this year. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on 17th March, 2025.