Iceye launches radar satellite service to monitor the high seas

WASHINGTON– Iceye, a business that constructs and runs a constellation of microsatellites geared up with artificial aperture radar (SAR) sensing units, has actually released a brand-new maritime monitoring item called Ocean Vision.

The service, revealed March 7, intends to offer thorough tracking of the world’s oceans.

Almost 75% of worldwide trade happens over water, John Cartwright, Iceye’s senior vice president stated. Nations significantly require much better intelligence about activities at sea, he included. “However, the maritime environment provides a substantial obstacle, with huge areas of ocean to browse and keep track of.”

SAR satellites find the signatures of vessels that stick out versus the dark background of the ocean’s surface area, he kept in mind, and can render vessels noticeable to SAR sensing units in the evening and in bad weather condition.

Iceye is based in Finland and runs a U.S. subsidiary called Iceye U.S., based in Irvine, Californiawhere it creates and makes satellites.

The business stated the Ocean Vision service permits the combination of SAR images with complementary information sources such as Automatic Identification System (AIS) or radio frequency (RF) information.

Growing variety of usage cases

There is a growing variety of usage cases for maritime monitoring, stated Cartwright, consisting of determining vessels participated in illegal trade and smuggling, and those that carry out prohibited, unreported and uncontrolled fishing.

Iceye has actually formerly presented other maritime monitoring services in collaborations with Windward AI and with the satellite operator Spire

Unlike previous offerings, Ocean Vision has a “spot” function that integrates SAR information with machine-learning workflows to provide specialized details layers, the business stated.

“Past activity focused more on the energy and application of our SAR information in assistance of maritime monitoring requires,” stated Iceye. Ocean Vision “allows more fast combination with other appropriate geospatial information sources and supports broader exploitation by decreasing the requirement for internal SAR know-how and processing workflows.”

Iceye on March 4 released 3 brand-new SAR satellites on the SpaceX Transporter-10 rideshare objective, consisting of an innovation demonstrator with an updated X-band antenna.

The business has actually introduced an overall of 34 spacecraft because 2018, and prepares to release as much as 15 satellites in 2024.