OC Business Journal

Finland’s Iceye sets up U.S. hub in Irvine

Unit of Finnish Firm Puts US Base in Irvine

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide has gotten closer to reality thanks to compact satellites made by the new Irvine facility of Iceye U.S.

Satellites assembled and tested at the U.S. arm of the Finnish aerospace firm can peer through rain, clouds and even pitch-black night to keep track of everything from defense to economic embargo breakers, oil spills and ships with illegal cargoes trying to slip past authorities by turning off their automatic tracking systems at night.

“We can see the ships just as well as if it was a clear day,” Iceye U.S. Chief Executive Jerry Welsh told the Business Journal on April 29.

The 200-pound small-satellite itself is about the size of a washing machine, with radar and solar panels that extend outward, featuring what is called synthetic aperture radar.

The company’s U.S. headquarters, located in the Irvine Spectrum area, will host the production of multiple spacecraft simultaneously and also contain a research and development lab and offices, the company said in a statement April 15. The Irvine location also houses a mission operations center for monitoring and operating U.S.-licensed spacecraft 24 hours a day.

Irvine Assembled

“The whole spacecraft will be assembled, integrated and tested here in the facility,” said Welsh, who grew up in Orange County and graduated from California State University, Fullerton and received an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

At any given time, most of the Earth is covered in clouds or darkness, but Iceye’s small radar imaging satellites can form high-resolution images of areas in daylight, at night, and through cloud cover. They can “see” any part of the Earth multiple times a day, according to Welsh.

The company said it has successfully launched 10 missions to date and operates the world’s largest fleet of commercial synthetic aperture radar satellites, or SAR.

Welsh said the company has started the build process and will launch a U.S.-owned and operated spacecraft later this year.

Iceye U.S. is an American company, giving the firm an advantage over foreign competitors, he said.

“We are using the same proprietary radar technology that Iceye Finland originally developed.”

Parent company Iceye in Finland has raised a total of $152 million in funding.

Welsh said the facility opened in March and he expects to have “dozens” of employees in Irvine by the end of the year. He declined to release revenue numbers or give prices for the satellites.

Selling Data

The company’s three product lines are selling data, providing business insights to customers and selling the satellites themselves.

Iceye U.S. customers include civilian government agencies keeping track of natural catastrophes, for example, while Welsh says the commercial sector is also very important. The company also works with the U.S. Department of Defense on military projects that he did not specify. It also works with the University of California, Irvine, he said.

Elon Musk’s Space X is “generally the preferred partner” for launching the spacecraft.

The company said last month it is partnering with the U.S. intelligence community’s venture capital arm In-Q-Tel as U.S. government demand for SAR satellite data skyrockets.

In-Q-Tel identifies and partners with companies developing innovations that have both high national security impact and the potential for commercial success.

“We are now on contract with multiple customers, both on the defense and intel side and on the civil side. We’ve had humbling reception, I would say, amongst all those sectors,” Eric Jensen, president of Iceye U.S., was quoted as saying by website BreakingDefense.com last month. “There is very clearly an unmet demand for complementary commercial SAR here in the states.”

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2021-05-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

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