Finnish satellite firm ICEYE launches India subsidiary

ICEYE, the Finnish satellite operator, has formally established a corporate entity in New Delhi called ICEYE India, the company announced August 24. The move gives ICEYE a direct legal and operational presence in a market it has been supplying for several years without a local subsidiary.

ICEYE operates the world’s largest constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, a form of imaging that uses radar rather than visible light to capture ground data. SAR imagery works through cloud cover and at night, which sets it apart from optical satellite systems.

The company said ICEYE India’s immediate focus is giving Indian defense and intelligence customers access to its satellite imagery and related intelligence products. ICEYE also said it plans to engage more broadly with India’s space and defense sector through supply-chain participation, technology validation and local capability building.

The New Delhi entity will also serve as the base for ICEYE’s manufacturing plans in India. The company said it intends to build production capability in-country, drawing on local suppliers and engineering talent, to serve Indian defense, surveillance and environmental monitoring customers. ICEYE did not disclose a timeline, investment figure or planned facility location for that manufacturing effort.

“ICEYE India means real engineering and manufacturing capability on the ground. We’re excited to build this together with the government and local partners and to support India as it strengthens its own sovereign intelligence capability,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE.

The company said it is exploring collaboration with Indian launch providers, electronics and component manufacturers, and other technology partners, without naming specific firms or agreements.

India has been building out its own space-based surveillance capacity, and the government has pushed a policy of domestic defense manufacturing under its Aatmanirbhar Bharat, or self-reliant India, initiative. ICEYE said its approach of building local industrial capability in each country it enters aligns with those goals.

The Indian subsidiary follows a similar move by ICEYE in Germany last month, where the company also set up a national entity. National subsidiaries have become a common structure among Western satellite and defense firms seeking to bid on government contracts that require some form of sovereign or in-country control.

ICEYE has built its business around small, relatively low-cost SAR satellites that can be deployed in larger numbers than traditional radar satellites, allowing more frequent revisits of a given location. The company’s satellites currently offer imagery resolution as fine as 16 cm.

ICEYE has supplied SAR satellites to Brazil’s Air Force since 2020 and provided tactical satellite imagery to Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. In 2025, the company signed a deal worth roughly $200 million with Poland covering radar satellites and ground infrastructure.