ICEYE SAR Constellation

[Salo]

http://www.ieav.cta.br/eventos/serfa/serfa2018/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ICEYE2.pdf

[Jarnis]

Business Finland gives ICEYE 10 million Euros

ICEYE engineers are integrating and testing the firm’s third and fourth satellites.

ICEYE plans to launch between five and eight satellites in 2019 to create an operational constellation of at least six satellites
...
To date, ICEYE has raised more than $65 million
...
ICEYE planned to launch ICEYE X-3 in 2018 but “unfortunately due to launch delays, this mission is currently scheduled for the first half of 2019,”

Interesting the PR talks several times about it being a "grant" but it's actually a loan according to the finance source:-

ICEYE RECEIVES 10M€ CAPITAL LOAN FROM BUSINESS FINLAND

https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/whats-new/news/2018/iceye-receives-10m-capital-loan-from-business-finland-to-initiate-internet-of-locations/

That's very interesting - somebody tries to create the impression it's free money when it isn't.

Plus these guys are burning cash pretty fast as a company with just two sats in orbit.

The Cantrell Effect.

This is because these Business Finland "loans" are often written off later unless the company becomes so profitable that paying them off is no big deal. It is a way to work around EU regulations related to forbidden subsidies from government to the private sector...

[gongora]

0043-EX-ST-2019 Trident Space Incorporated

Background: Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) offers the ability to image the Earth from an aircraft or from space during daytime, at night, and in any weather. Synthetic Aperture Radar is an advanced form of radar which employs the relative motion between the radar sensor and the target to create a high resolution image. The radio waves transmitted from the sensor can penetrate the darkness and any weather providing a reliable source of high quality images. Interpretation and exploitation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery products have traditionally been the domain of the human image analyst. Deep Learning Neural Networks (DLNN) and other advanced image processing algorithms are emerging which can identify objects of interest in SAR imagery.

The application of these promising emerging DLNN image processing techniques to SAR imagery has been hampered by the lack of readily available open source SAR imagery and the cost of available commercial SAR imagery (e.g. 1m resolution SAR images collected from low earth orbit by TerraSARx are $140 per sq km for a 1m resolution image). SAR offers significant advantages over Electro Optic (EO) including the ability to obtain images at night and through clouds or other optical obscurants. Complex SAR images also contain phase information that can be exploited in addition to amplitude data. An affordable, reliable source of complex SAR image data in sufficient quantities is required to provide the basis for development, training and evaluation of DLNN and other advanced image processing techniques that are tailored to exploit the unique characteristics of SAR imagery.

Dozens of commercial applications for these emerging data analytic capabilities have been identified including vehicle, container, and ship detection and classification however; a lack of relevant sample SAR imagery data and training data sets have limited the ongoing SAR data analytics development activities. A comprehensive portfolio of SAR imagery for selected commercial applications is required to support the continuing development of SAR data analytics.

Objectives: Conduct a SAR Image Data Collection Research and Experimentation Program to collect SAR imagery of commercial targets of interest using an airborne platform at image resolutions, bit depth, grazing angles, azimuth angles, sizes, and image quality (i.e. noise equivalent sigma zero) consistent with the SAR imagery collected by existing and emerging SAR smallsats. All required airspace operations approvals will be obtained from the local authorities prior to commencing flight operations. Continuous communications with the aircraft during imaging operations will allow “stop button” capability in the event of reported interference. Trident will employ a Cessna 206 aircraft flying at 10,000 ft configured with the ICEYE X02 Test bed payload electronics. This X-band SAR payload will be tunable in a frequency band from 9500-9800 MHz and will operate with a maximum 300MHz of bandwidth in a pulsed mode using a linear FM chirp with a peak power of 168W. Trident Space will employ a patch array antenna with 3.9 degree azimuthal half-power beam width and 8.7 degree vertical half-power beam width.

SAR imagery will be collected in areas which include container storage locations, oil tanks, pipeline and power transmission line right-of-ways, vehicle parking lots, ship loading docks, ship anchorages, fishing areas and other commercial activities of interest (See test locations exhibit). Imagery will be collected at 300 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth for each target area from at least six different azimuth angles and at least two different grazing angles that are representative of the geometries expected from a SAR smallsat operating in LEO at a 45 degree inclination. Multiple collections for each target area will be conducted over several days to provide data sets supporting change detection processing and DLNN design, development, testing, and training. Trident will create a digital portfolio containing the collected SAR data sets to include the raw radar I & Q data, the GPS and IMU data necessary to form the SAR  images, as well as processed complex SAR imagery at several resolutions (e.g. .5m, 1m, 3m) for each data set. These SAR image data sets will be made available to our research partners in Government, academia and industry.

[gongora]

[Ars Technica] Small satellites begin to offer unrivaled detail in radar images of Earth

For these newest images of container terminal port operations, ICEYE wanted to demonstrate its high-resolution capabilities. Looking at ports in Nigeria, Australia, and elsewhere, the company was able to acquire and process images at up to 0.55-meter resolution, distinguishing details about the loading of crude oil and individual vessels.

[ICEYE Press Release] ICEYE Releases World-First Under 1-Meter Resolution Radar Imagery from SAR Microsatellites

Under 1-meter resolution radar satellite imaging from ICEYE breaks previous technological barriers for small SAR satellites

Helsinki, FINLAND – August 9, 2019 – ICEYE, the global leader in small satellite synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology, is the first in the world to achieve better-than 1 meter resolution imagery from under-100kg (220 pounds) SAR satellites. The new Spotlight imaging capability builds on ICEYE’s legacy of leading the way on small satellite SAR since its history-making first small SAR satellite launch in January 2018. Since then the company has continued to launch more satellites, latest in July 2019 with two new units. With new satellites being launched still during 2019, ICEYE continues to develop and optimize its imaging capabilities further for customers in both commercial and government segments.

“Offering satellite imagery day and night, regardless of cloud cover, and at these very high resolutions, makes small SAR the new standard for reliable and timely imaging,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE. “The imagery we’ve released today shows that the previously perceived limits of small satellite SAR continue to be solved by our extremely talented teams at ICEYE.”

ICEYE’s newly developed Spotlight imaging mode enables under 1-meter radar imaging from the company’s satellites. With Spotlight imaging, the satellite focuses its energy on a smaller area for a longer time, resulting in more data received from the same location. This in turn can be processed into more detailed imagery.

Very high-resolution radar satellite images are uniquely helpful for both distinguishing small objects, and for accurately classifying larger objects such as vessels. These added capabilities of ICEYE’s SAR satellites are especially valuable in resolving challenges in sectors such as emergency response, finance, civil government, and maritime security.

“ICEYE continues to provide commercial SAR data to its customers while developing new and improved capabilities,” said Pekka Laurila, CSO and co-founder of ICEYE. “We are continually working with our customers to help turn these unique capabilities into the industry-specific solutions that they need.”

[Star One]

Finnish space start-up Iceye has once again given an impressive demonstration of its novel technology's capabilities.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/science-environment-49253951

[ringsider]

Finnish space start-up Iceye has once again given an impressive demonstration of its novel technology's capabilities.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/science-environment-49253951

Is Jim Cantrell still on their advisory board?

[russianhalo117]

Finnish space start-up Iceye has once again given an impressive demonstration of its novel technology's capabilities.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/science-environment-49253951

Is Jim Cantrell still on their advisory board?

Rafal Modrzewski may have replaced him. Haven't confirmed.

[gongora]

ICEYE Unveils 25 cm SAR Imaging Capability with Current SAR Satellite Constellation

Helsinki, FINLAND – March 26th, 2020 – Finnish New Space leader ICEYE unveiled today its latest capability of 25 cm resolution imaging with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) small satellites, utilizing the company’s current commercial SAR satellite constellation in-orbit. With this very high resolution imaging capability, ICEYE SAR data achieves the same resolution class provided by larger, conventional commercial SAR satellites operating at their highest performance.

ICEYE successfully launched its first SAR satellite in January 2018, ICEYE-X1, which achieved 10x10 meter resolution data capabilities, while also becoming the World's first SAR satellite mission under 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in launch mass. With the company's latest development of 25 cm imaging from its current commercial SAR satellite constellation of 3 spacecraft, ICEYE data achieves the finest classification of resolution in the commercial SAR market.

“Before, these resolutions have been exclusively reserved for the larger, traditional SAR spacecraft,” said Pekka Laurila, CSO & Co-founder, ICEYE. “This resolution is operationally expected to be available for ICEYE customers already mid-2020 from the current in-orbit constellation.”

Following standard industry definitions, the native slant plane resolution of the newly unveiled SAR data is 25 cm in the azimuth direction, and 50 cm in the range direction, before ground-plane adjustments are applied. The finest resolution data will be provided to customers in ICEYE's standard product formats that are accessible with standard Geographic Information System (GIS) tools.

“Site activity monitoring based on very high resolution SAR data enables our customers to unlock new insights in virtually all use cases that utilize ICEYE's current 1-meter resolution imaging.”, said Dr. Mark Matossian, CEO of the US subsidiary of ICEYE. “25 cm resolution SAR imaging is ground-breaking to come from the world’s smallest SAR satellites. Commercial and government SAR customers will be able to achieve very detailed change detection, perform improved object classification, and track ever smaller objects from orbit.”

[gongora]

https://www.iceye.com/press/press-releases/usd-87m-in-series-c-for-iceye-to-continue-conquering-boundaries-in-radar-satellite-imaging

Helsinki, FINLAND – September 22, 2020 – ICEYE, a World-leading SAR data provider, today announced the closing of a larger than planned $87M Series C funding, led by return investor True Ventures, with a significant additional investment by OTB Ventures. ICEYE has so far successfully launched 5 satellite missions, starting with the first ever small SAR satellite launched in January 2018. The company is launching 4 additional SAR satellites this year and is on course to launch at least an additional 8 in 2021. This will grow the existing operational constellation into a capability that is unique in the World. To date, ICEYE has raised a total of $152M in financing.

“ICEYE is enabling others to solve immeasurably difficult problems that affect the lives of millions of people around the world. Our team has built a reputation of delivering results to our customers with unmatched timelines and quality of service. We are proud of that reputation, and we intend to maintain it,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE. “This round of investment ensures our SAR satellite constellation will reach a size of at least 12 satellites in 2021, guaranteeing 4 times a day revisit rate globally.”

[russianhalo117]

R2 Space (ICEYE US) US XR constellation shortlisted to F9 and Electron for the first 8 sats and follow on: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/xr-1.htm

[gongora]

R2 Space (ICEYE US) US XR constellation shortlisted to F9 and Electron for the first 8 sats and follow on: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/xr-1.htm

R2 Space does not appear to be a division of ICEYE.  They are an independent company that apparently is partnered with ICEYE and will use ICEYE designs for the satellites?

[russianhalo117]

R2 Space (ICEYE US) US XR constellation shortlisted to F9 and Electron for the first 8 sats and follow on: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/xr-1.htm

R2 Space does not appear to be a division of ICEYE.  They are an independent company that apparently is partnered with ICEYE and will use ICEYE designs for the satellites?

ICEYE-US is providing a US ITAR compliant version of which R2 Space is responsible for the same portion of both series. All partners are equally involved in the X series and the XR series is for USG. ICEYE US is building them: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.iceye.com/press/press-releases/iceye-expanding-in-us-with-mark-matossian-joining-as-ceo-of-iceye-us-inc-as-company-evaluates-us-satellite-manufacturing%3fhs_amp=true

[eeergo]

https://twitter.com/AuerSusan/status/1316067519157993474

[Pueo]

Some insight into a specific demographic of customers ICEYE might be servicing.

https://twitter.com/nktpnd/status/1316447435250716672

[gongora]

The press release that prompted the tweets in the previous two posts

ICEYE Shares Nearly 18,000 Satellite Image Catalog Under Creative Commons License

ICEYE offers public access to the rapidly growing archive of radar satellite imagery acquired with the company’s SAR satellite constellation.

Helsinki, FINLAND – October 13, 2020 – Finnish New Space leader ICEYE today announced access to ICEYE's Public Archive, containing nearly 18,000 images from ICEYE satellites. The ICEYE Public Archive includes radar imagery in various imaging modes taken with ICEYE’s SAR satellite constellation between mid-2019 and now. The ICEYE Public Archive consists of preview images from around the world, which are released under CC BY-NC 4.0 license, allowing for non-commercial use.

“The ICEYE SAR satellite constellation is here for the global community of decision makers, data users, and more, to improve our shared world around us all,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE. “The ICEYE Public Archive opens up a unique view of the world, which we invite you to explore together with us.”

The ICEYE Public Archive is provided as a downloadable file through the ICEYE website, showing the locations and time of imaging for each thumbnail in the Archive. After downloading the file, users can open it with their Geographic Information System (GIS) program of choice, such as Google Earth Pro or QGIS, making exploring the world of radar satellite imaging accessible for all.

“Every day, ICEYE provides unique access to data and information for our customers that hasn’t been available before,” said Steve Young, Vice President, Business Development and Sales, ICEYE. “Our customers and the global community of Earth observation data explorers now have access to some of the imagery that has been collected in the prior years by ICEYE's SAR satellite constellation. The ICEYE Public Archive provides additional inspiration for what can be achieved in the future.”

The ICEYE Public Archive is available to download today. The Public Archive does not contain the full catalog of ICEYE imagery, as customer exclusivity applies in many cases. The ICEYE SAR data associated with the preview images presented in the Public Archive can be ordered in the ICEYE standard image formats by following the order process described in the ICEYE Product Guide. ICEYE sales will assist new customers to set up an account for image orders.

[edzieba]

AIUI, the images linked from the public archive are around 1/4 resolution (half width, half height) previews of the full size archive compressed images that are purchasable. The full GEOTIFFs are obviously not linked.

[gongora]

https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/sale_of_finnish_microsatellite_to_brazil_raises_criticism/11733127

[Steven Pietrobon]

Hmm. Seems INPE don't seem to appreciate why SAR is used by the military (locating tanks, vehicles and ships on land and sea) and not for what is I think is the cover story of monitoring deforestation.

[gongora]

Press Release  25 January 2021

ICEYE Establishes World's Top-Performing Persistent Monitoring Satellite Capabilities with Three New SAR Spacecraft Successfully Launched

This launch represents an ICEYE milestone of 10 satellite missions launched, bringing the company’s persistent monitoring capabilities with radar satellite imaging to an unparalleled level.

Washington, D.C. – January 25, 2021 – ICEYE, the global leader in persistent monitoring with radar satellite imaging, announces today the successful launch of three ICEYE SAR satellites on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 smallsat rideshare mission via EXOLAUNCH. This raises the total number of launched ICEYE missions to 10, including commercial and dedicated customer missions. Early operation procedures with all 3 spacecraft have been successfully finalized, and each satellite’s SAR instrument is currently going through commissioning.

After commissioning these 3 new spacecraft, ICEYE operates the world’s largest, most agile SAR satellite constellation, providing global commercial access and persistent monitoring. ICEYE’s constellation is able to provide the world’s most reliable and frequent images of customers’ areas of interest, regardless of time of day, or weather conditions.

“The successful launch of three ICEYE SAR satellites is an excellent start to 2021 and reinforces ICEYE’s unmatched capabilities in persistent monitoring. This is the beginning of a significant ramp up of spacecraft builds from our expanded facilities in Europe and a new manufacturing site in the U.S.,” said Jerry Welsh, CEO of ICEYE US. “The new U.S. site will be used to build and operate dedicated spacecraft providing ICEYE flexibility in supporting U.S. and global customers.”

ICEYE empowers commercial and government partners with persistent monitoring of any location on Earth. The company helps customers make informed, data-driven decisions to address time-critical challenges in various industries and uses such as border security, flood monitoring and oil spill clean-up.

“As ICEYE continues to expand its constellation of SAR satellites, it provides the opportunity to image more locations each day,” said Eric Jensen, President of ICEYE US. “Our customers receive dependable and frequent imaging that provides persistent monitoring of locations addressing time-critical needs. This reinforces ICEYE’s market-leading position in providing change detection applications.”

The company raised $87 million in the Series C funding round last year, bringing its total fundraising to $152 million. At least another 8 ICEYE satellites are being manufactured for launch still within this year. Equipped with cloud-piercing radar sensors, the company’s satellites can image day or night and in all weather conditions at incredibly high resolutions.

[gongora]

ICEYE Launches Four New Radar Imaging Satellites, Taking a Further Leap Forward in Persistent Monitoring Capabilities

Press Release  01 July 2021

ICEYE continues to grow the World’s largest synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation, which is used for persistent monitoring. This launch from SpaceX included three satellites intended for customer access and a next-generation demonstrator spacecraft.

Helsinki, FINLAND – July 1, 2021 – ICEYE, the global leader in persistent monitoring with radar satellite imaging, announces today the successful launch of four ICEYE SAR satellites. They were launched into orbit on a SpaceX’s Falcon 9 smallsat rideshare mission via EXOLAUNCH. Three satellites of the latest technology generation will be added to the ICEYE constellation after a commissioning phase. The fourth satellite of this launch will be operated as a demonstration mission for the company’s next-generation spacecraft. With this launch, ICEYE has successfully brought 14 satellites into orbit, including both commercial and dedicated customer missions.

With the launch of multiple satellites, ICEYE continues to grow and operate the world’s largest constellation of agile SAR satellites with the purpose of further developing and optimizing persistent monitoring capabilities. ICEYE’s constellation is designed to reliably provide imagery of customers’ areas of interest with a very short revisit time to enable the detection and tracking of rapid changes on the Earth’s surface, regardless of time of day, or weather conditions.

“ICEYE provides the world’s leading persistent monitoring services based on data collected from orbit,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE . “If you need to know what is happening in the world, ICEYE is your choice for persistent monitoring.”

The launched next-generation demonstration mission is equipped with the newest SAR satellite technology from ICEYE, allowing new and innovative capabilities in SAR imaging. These improvements include a factor two improvement in ground resolution, and the capability to simultaneously image and downlink data for near-immediate data delivery.

“The growth of ICEYE’s radar imaging satellite constellation is unprecedented, and as a result, our customers enjoy the most actionable set of capabilities in the world for persistent monitoring,” said Steve Young, Vice President of Business Development and Sales at ICEYE . “Not only the quantity, but also the consistent push for what’s possible with the latest technology keeps ICEYE at the forefront of radar satellite imaging.”

ICEYE serves SAR data to a global customer base in three imaging modes: Spot, Strip, and Scan, each with optimized resolution and coverage, all the way to 10,000 km2 with individual acquisitions. ICEYE is set to announce further radar satellite data capabilities in July, with additional launches set for later in the year.

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