A compressed Iceye synthetic aperture radar image of Singapore. Credit: Iceye

SAN FRANCISCO – Iceye announced an agreement Oct. 7 to work with ST Engineering Geo-Insights Pte Ltd., a technology, defense and engineering firm based in Singapore, to expand the South East Asia market for Iceye’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, data and analytics products.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding and an agreement that designates ST Engineering Geo-Insights as a commercial reseller of Iceye products to commercial and government customers in South East Asia.

“As a part of the agreement, the two companies will provide mutual support to develop the regional and global market for rapid revisit, high resolution SAR imagery and SAR-based geospatial analytics,” according to the Oct. 7 news release. Through the partnership, both companies will be “in a better position to exploit SAR imagery to provide insights for customers” focused on energy as well as customers seeking data for infrastructure and smart cities, the news release added.

Iceye, a company based in Finland with offices in Poland and the United Kingdom, operates a constellation of three SAR satellites. Iceye plans to launch two more satellites by the end of the year, Rafal Modrzewski, Iceye chief executive officer and co-founder, said in September at the World Satellite Business Week conference in Paris.

Iceye provides SAR imagery with a range of resolution and swath sizes, including SAR imagery with a resolution of less than one meter.

ST Engineering Geo-Insights is a joint venture formed in February by Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. and DSO National Laboratories, Singapore’s national defense research and development organization. ST Engineering Geo-Insights specializes in offering geospatial analytics and value-added services based on satellite imagery.

Government agencies are the largest consumers of SAR data. Government customers are likely to dominate the market for the next few years, Modrzewski said at the World Satellite Business Week conference.

Nevertheless, Iceye continues to identify promising commercial applications for SAR imagery and data, he added.

Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She...