Iceye considers building space systems in Brazil

ICEYE's Gen4 SAR satellite over the UK and Europe (ICEYE)

Iceye, a Finnish company specialising in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology, is considering establishing a production facility in Brazil, Rui Costa, the CEO for Iceye Portugal, told Janes on 30 September.

SAR satellites provide imagery with a short revisit time to enable the detection and tracking of changes on Earth's surface.

The Brazilian Air Force operates two Iceye SAR, low Earth orbit (LEO), dual-purpose, X-band microsatellites that were acquired in December 2020 for approximately BRL175 million (USD34.6 million) under the Lessonia-1 satellites constellation project.

The satellites, designated Carcará I and Carcará II, were launched in May 2022, establishing a Brazilian space-based persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability.

If Iceye builds a production facility in Brazil, satellites would be produced through the assembly, integration, and testing (AIT) model, Costa said.

AIT for a space system encompasses the final construction, connection, alignment, and calibration of all hardware, followed by a multi-stage analysis of its performance during launch, deployment, and orbit conditions.

A Brazilian plant would replicate the SAR satellite facility being built by Iceye in Alverca, Portugal, Rui Costa said. That plant is scheduled to start operations in November 2026, he said.

Portugal has acquired four initial SAR satellites from ICEYE for the “Constelação do Atlantico” constellation. Three were acquired by CTI Aeroespacial (a joint venture of the Portuguese Air Force, the CEiiA Centre of Engineering and Product Development, and the company GEOSAT) and one by the Portuguese Air Force.

A delegation from the Brazilian Ministry of Defence and Brazilian Air Force recently visited ICEYE's headquarters in Espoo, Finland.