Image source: topwar.ru
Finnish aerospace company ICEYE, a manufacturer and operator of microsatellites, has announced agreements with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine to expand access to high-quality SAR images of its satellite constellation for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The corresponding press release was published on the company's website on January 19.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a method that allows obtaining radar images of the planet's surface and objects located on it, regardless of weather conditions and time of day, with a detail comparable to aerial photographs. Shooting through tree crowns is available. The typical resolution of ICEYE's 4th generation Gen 4 satellite images is up to 16 cm with a coverage area of 400 km. This allows for more images to be captured in a single orbit pass and a higher frequency of repeat visits, resulting in SAR images of the highest accuracy.
For the military, such images allow them to maintain constant situational awareness in real time at a tactical level. For the Armed Forces of Ukraine, SAR technology is especially valuable because it works at night and through clouds, while traditional optical sensors are often blocked by weather, fog or smoke, the press release emphasizes. ICEYE's electronic beam control technology allows you to capture dozens of high-resolution images in just a few minutes of satellite imagery.
Comment by John Cartwright, Senior Vice President of Data Products at the aerospace company:
Immediately after the conflict began in 2022, the Finnish startup ICEYE established cooperation with the Ukrainian military. At that time, the company placed the capabilities of one of its orbital SAR satellites at the full disposal of the Government of Ukraine, and also ensured that commercial images did not reach countries or structures hostile to Kiev.
Image source: topwar.ru
As of 2025, there are no full-fledged commercial radar satellites in orbit in Russia, but private companies are showing interest in this segment. At least two private companies in the Russian Federation work with radar imagery, but as distributors rather than operators of their own SAR satellites.
In 2020, the SR SAR project of the private company SR Space (SR Space JSC) was launched in the Russian Federation, aimed at creating a grouping of small radar satellites with a synthesized aperture for surveying the Northern Sea Route and the Arctic zone, infrastructure of oil and gas companies, industrial and natural facilities, and monitoring in the interests of the state and private customers. In April 2025, the company's accounts were frozen by the Federal Tax Service, and in August, the court declared SR Space bankrupt.
Finnish ICEYE started just a few years ago as an ordinary commercial startup. In February 2022, the company raised a total of $304 million and received $136 million in Series D financing. ICEYE currently has the world's largest satellite constellation with synthetic aperture radar (RSA).
We only know about the launch into orbit of the Obzor-R (Obzor-R / Strata Obzora-R) synthetic aperture (SAR) heavy radar satellite at the end of December 2025. The launch was carried out from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on a Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle. The developer and manufacturer is RCC Progress JSC (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation).
The weight of the device is about 4 tons, it is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar station based on an active phased array antenna (AFAR) for round-the-clock and all-weather observation of the Earth's surface. According to international space catalogs, the satellite is currently listed as being in the commissioning stage, meaning it is in orbit and undergoing initial tests, followed by reaching operating parameters. Communication with the device has been established, telemetry and basic systems are functioning stably.
Image source: topwar.ru
