Rheinmetall and SAR ICEYE will produce satellites, but Ukraine may also benefit from cooperation
9 May 17:42
A German defense company and the world’s leading satellite manufacturer have announced their intention to establish a joint venture and have documented this in a Memorandum of Understanding. This was reported by the press service of the German company, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Rheinmetall will become the majority shareholder of the new joint venture called Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions and will own 60% of the shares, while ICEYE will own 40%.
What will be produced and where?
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions, as part of Rheinmetall’s space cluster in Germany, will produce satellites, starting with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, and later on other space solutions.
Production will take place at the Neuss plant and is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2026.
Earlier, Rheinmetall announced its intention to convert two of its civilian facilities in Berlin and Neuss, a town near Düsseldorf, into weapons production plants.
Why Rheinmetall and ICEYE are combining their capabilities
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG, called the new joint venture a response to the growing demand for space-based intelligence capabilities among armed and security forces around the world. The concern is also contributing to the preservation and expansion of Germany’s capabilities as a technology center.
In turn, Rafał Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE, stated the company’s aspiration to become a major supplier of critical intelligence and surveillance infrastructure to allied countries.
As you know, ICEYE owns the world’s largest constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites.
What are the advantages of SAR satellites?
These special satellites, unlike conventional satellites, can generate high-resolution images regardless of weather conditions or time of day. They are very detailed and allow identifying even the smallest objects on the Earth’s surface. This can provide decisive advantages to armed forces in terms of surveillance, targeting, reconnaissance, or their own positioning on the battlefield.
Instead of using sunlight, SAR sensors use their own radio waves, which are reflected from the Earth’s surface and returned to the receiving antenna.
Unlike optical images, the preliminary results of SAR work can hardly be called images in the traditional sense. Before becoming more or less understandable, the data must undergo multi-level noise removal, a series of neural network processing, and verification by human experts.
What else is known about ICEYE
The company operates internationally with offices in Finland, Poland, Spain, the UK, Australia, Japan, the UAE, Greece, and the USA. The company employs over 700 people.
Today, most commercial SAR operators serve maritime companies, while developing new niches, such as assessing damage from natural and man-made disasters, monitoring oil reserves, and controlling construction safety. But the main customer for the data is the defense sector.
Rheinmetall and ICEYE cooperate with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
Last November, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, German industrial giant Rheinmetall and international company SAR ICEYE signed a contract to use satellite data for the defense of Ukraine.
As a result, the Ukrainian military gained access to the information resource of the entire ICEYE satellite constellation.
ICEYE was the very company that signed a contract with the Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation back in August 2022 and provided the opportunity for satellite aerial photography from one of its satellites.
And just as importantly, in July 2024, ICEYE and the Ministry of Defense signed a memorandum of cooperation that outlines the parties’ partnership to strengthen Ukraine’s space capabilities.
ICEYE investigated the consequences of the occupiers’ explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant
It was SAR satellites that recorded the full extent of the floods in the Kherson region after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. And this data was received by government agencies and organizations involved in the aftermath of the breach.
This evidence-based flood analysis was also used by The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, and Helsingin Sanomat to show the impact of the Kakhovka dam breach on the Kherson region.
And on the eve of the Russian invasion, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, having analyzed data from SAR satellites, was one of the first to report the offensive movement of Russian military convoys towards the Ukrainian border.
