Helsinki, Finland – ICEYE, the global leader in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operations, and Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), a leading global provider of advanced space services, November 20 announced they have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI). This LOI outlines a plan to leverage their complementary strengths, aiming to enhance sovereign space capabilities for Nordic and NATO security.
The LOI, signed at the NATO Arctic Space Forum last week in Helsinki, reflects the growing strategic cooperation between Sweden and Finland and aims to explore expanded collaboration in key space and defence-related areas. It leverages the complementary strengths of both companies to support future mission development, satellite operations, and launch capabilities.
The partnership will explore synergies between ICEYE’s world-leading sovereign space-based ISR offering and SSC’s extensive global ground station network, mission operations expertise, and future orbital launch services.
Following high-level discussions at the NATO Arctic Space Forum among senior Nordic and NATO leaders on the need for increased cooperation between allied governments and industry, the LOI between ICEYE and SSC represents a tangible step toward rapidly strengthening space-based Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for the Arctic and NATO’s North-Eastern Flank.
Pekka Laurila, CSO and Co-founder of ICEYE, said, “Through this LOI, we’re evaluating how to combine ICEYE’s SAR offering and SSC’s global ground network and future access to orbit. The intent is to explore concepts that strengthen Nordic collaboration for security and resilience and enable dependable ISR for NATO and the Nordics.”
Charlotta Sund, President and CEO at SSC, said, “The LOI between SSC and ICEYE aims to develop cooperation based on our complementary strengths, and is in line with and supports an increasing defence cooperation also in the space domain between Sweden and Finland.”
In September 2025, the Finnish Defence Forces announced the acquisition of SAR satellites and technical systems from ICEYE to establish a sovereign, space-based surveillance capability. The total value of the acquisition is approximately Euro 158 million, including the main procurement as well as options to extend the satellites’ lifecycle and expand the system in the future.
On November 12, 2025, in an address at the NATO Arctic Space Forum, Finland’s Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen discussed a plan to create a multinational community with allied countries that use SAR satellites, which will promote compatibility, synergy and best practices related to SAR capabilities.
