IRVINE, Calif., - ICEYE in Irvine, California announced the successful launch of four new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites onboard SpaceX's Transporter-9 smallsat rideshare mission on 11 November from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
SAR satellites illuminate the ground with microwaves and create images from the energy that is reflected back to the satellite regardless of cloud cover. SAR is advantagous to traditional electro-optical imaging for monitoring and search applications because it provides a powerful day/night, all-weather imaging capability. This capability is suited for applications such as insurance, natural catastrophe response and recovery, national security, defense and intelligence, humanitarian relief, and climate change monitoring.
The launch of the four third-generation satellites also builds on earlier advancements in imaging capabilities, including Spot Fine mode, which delivers 50 cm native ground resolution, and Dwell mode, which uses advanced collection techniques to rapidly determine changes happening on the ground in near real-time.
"This launch and deployment is more than just additional satellites for our constellation; it's a testament to our pursuit of excellence for our technologies in support of our customers," said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE. "We are fielding a resilient constellation with increased revisit rates and cutting-edge capabilities to meet the high-tempo imagery requirements of our most demanding customers."
John Cartwright, Head of Data Product at ICEYE remarked, "ICEYE customers around the globe have seemingly unending demand for our persistent, high-resolution satellite imaging capacity. Our customers use ICEYE imagery for actionable information and high-confidence decision-making. This is our third satellite launch during 2023, which shows our commitment to building and operating the largest SAR satellite constellation to date."
