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Aker Arctic and ICEYE team to improve ice navigation safety

Finnish companies Aker Arctic Technology, the world leader in ice-going vessel design and engineering, and ICEYE, the leader in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology for microsatellites, joined forces to develop and provide satellite ice information and related services for customers operating in icy conditions.

Combining the new SAR data from microsatellites with data from maritime environments provides an innovative and cost-effective service for marine users, Aker Arctic said.

During a one-year pilot phase Aker Arctic plans to develop and test these services with its partners. The company runs a special testing facility in Helsinki and offices in Canada and Russia. In addition, ICEYE is launching two more SAR satellites to increase data availability. The aim is to improve situational awareness in polar sea areas.

Aker Arctic sees the new SAR data as beneficial to improving understanding of ice conditions in specific areas, thus also supporting the development of new shipping routes and maritime construction.

With extensive experience in Arctic sea technology and the greater maritime industry, Aker Arctic will utilize ICEYE’s SAR data, collected with satellites such as ICEYE-X1, to extend and improve its services for customers.

ICEYE aims to provide democratized access to reliable Earth observation data by developing efficient SAR sensors and microsatellites, enabling everyone to make better decisions. Through an imaging service available anywhere around the globe, anytime, and with response times measured in just few hours, ICEYE helps clients resolve challenges in segments such as maritime, disaster management and security and intelligence.

ICEYE is the first organization to successfully launch SAR microsatellites and commenced its commercial data operations this year.

The company is on track to launch its next SAR-enabled satellite, ICEYE-X2, as soon as this summer. Providing high resolution images and extensive global data, ICEYE’s vision is to launch a constellation of up to 18 SAR satellites to provide users with accurate images of any point on Earth every few hours.

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