The company’s U.S. headquarters will also contain a research and development lab, offices, and a “customer engagement space”. The Irvine location also houses a Mission Operations Center for monitoring and operating U.S. licensed spacecraft.
“Like other aerospace hubs around the country, Southern California has a rich space legacy, a tremendous talent pool, and an excellent base of suppliers and partners,” said Deepak Grover, Vice President of Operations at ICEYE US.
“We look forward to further fueling our growth trajectory and Irvine is the perfect spot to set up our new facility.”
The company has also signed an agreement with In-Q-Tel – a U.S. not-for-profit VC firm which invests in high-tech start-up companies – to “accelerate the delivery of cutting-edge capabilities to U.S. government organizations”.
“With our new production facility in the U.S., we will add significant next-generation capabilities to our space and ground segments,” said Jerry Welsh, CEO of ICEYE US.
“This will provide us with the most reliable operational foundation, and give us the flexibility and efficiency to best accommodate the requirements of our U.S. government customers.”
Pictured above is an example of the company’s 25cm resolution SAR imaging, taken from an in-orbit demonstration from its radar imaging satellites. It shows oil tanks located in Rotterdam.
ICEYE-X1
ICEYE was originally founded as a spin-off from Finnish Aalto University’s satellite programme.
It launched its first SAR (synthetic-aperture radar) satellite, ICEYE-X1, in January 2018, achieving 10×10 meter resolution data capabilities, while weighing under 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in launch mass.
Its current commercial SAR satellite constellation consists of ten craft, following the launch of three new ones in January 2021, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 smallsat rideshare mission.
See also: ICEYE small satellites see the world in higher resolution