[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] ICEYE, a Finnish micro commercial satellite company, has thrown down the gauntlet in the domestic satellite market. As our military proceeds with the so-called ‘425 Project’ to launch reconnaissance satellites, ICEYE is expected to express its intention to participate through various methods such as satellite development technology transfer and leasing.
On the 16th, our military announced plans to launch one optical reconnaissance satellite and four micro synthetic aperture radar (SAR) reconnaissance satellites in 2025. This is called the 425 Project.
ICEYE, which has expressed its intention to participate in this project, recently established a new dedicated business division to support satellite missions and appointed Steve Young (photo) as the general manager. The division led by Steve Young is expected to propose selling SAR radar imaging satellites to our military or suggest options for ICEYE to manage them on behalf of the military.
Steve Young, president in charge of ICEYE’s satellite missions, stated, “ICEYE’s SAR satellites can observe during daytime, nighttime, or adverse weather conditions.”
ICEYE attracted market attention by providing information on Russian troop movements via satellites during the Ukraine war. ICEYE’s micro satellites are ultra-lightweight (under 100 kg), smaller than medium and large satellites, making production costs cheaper. While medium and large satellites cost over 200 billion KRW each on average, micro satellites are priced around 8 billion KRW.
In 2018, ICEYE succeeded in launching ICEYE-X1, the world’s first SAR satellite under 100 kg, and currently owns a total of 16 satellites. It is the world’s largest fleet of micro SAR satellites. In May 2022, ICEYE also launched a satellite for the Brazilian Air Force. ICEYE explained, “SAR satellites can generate risk data within 24 hours after floods occur, helping to reduce losses.”
Meanwhile, our military plans to launch an additional 32 micro reconnaissance satellites. North Korea’s liquid-fueled ballistic missiles have a launch preparation time of less than one hour, and solid-fueled ballistic missiles require only 20 to 30 minutes. Since the 425 Project’s reconnaissance satellites can observe North Korea at two-hour intervals, launching micro reconnaissance satellites to perform missions simultaneously would enable dense reconnaissance of North Korean territory at 10 to 20-minute intervals. Strengthening our military’s reconnaissance capabilities is expected to aid the transfer of wartime operational control, which is a key aspect of the operational control transition process.
The micro reconnaissance satellites disclosed by the Agency for Defense Development measure 3 meters in width and 70 cm in height. They have a resolution of about 1 meter and weigh only 66 kg. However, regardless of day or night and adverse weather, they can observe objects on the ground as small as 1 meter in size with high resolution from an altitude of 510 km orbit. Their lifespan is 2 to 3 years.
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