WARSAW, Poland — Polish space company Eycore has launched Eycore-1, an Earth observation satellite equipped with the company’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology. The May 3 launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base made Eycore the second privately-owned business in Europe to own its own SAR satellite.
The move will allow Eycore to test its solutions in orbital conditions. For Poland, the launch advances the development of the POLSARIS military radar constellation which is intended to provide the country’s armed forces with Earth monitoring capabilities.
Tomasz Kusowski, the vice president of the board and co-founder of Eycore, told SpaceNews that the company is focused on designing and delivering advanced payloads and satellites with SARs which enable high-resolution imaging of the Earth’s surface regardless of weather conditions or time of day.
“A key element of our offer comprises miniaturized radar sensors with a low mass and optimal power consumption, enabling them to be installed on satellites with a lower mass than traditional SARs,” Kusowski said.
Alongside the launch, Eycore is advancing plans to invest around 50 million złoty ($14 million) to expand its manufacturing capacities. Some of the funds will be used to finance the construction of a new production facility for satellite radar technologies in Poland.
“This investment is a key element of the Kaszubia Green Industrial District project backed by the Ministry of National Defense. The investment will include the construction of a new company headquarters in Gdynia, along with a production hall and cleanroom facilities necessary for the production of precision radar technologies,” Kusowski said.
Kusowski said that the company is currently implementing projects for a number of partners, including joint initiatives for the European Space Agency (ESA).
Kusowski gave the example of the CAMILA program, a 52 million euro ($61 million) initiative to develop a national constellation of Earth observation satellites and dedicated ground infrastructure. Eycore is collaborating with the program’s prime contractor, Creotech, another Polish firm, to develop “four microsatellites, three optoelectronic ones and one radar satellite, with Eycore responsible for developing the latter one,” Kusowski said.
In addition to this, Eycore’s work on the Eycore-1 program has also paved the way for the company’s ongoing cooperation with Kongsberg NanoAvionics (KNA), a small satellite mission integrator focused on developing new-generation satellite buses. Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace acquired NanoAvionics, a business that was established in Poland’s neighbor Lithuania, in 2022.
“This collaboration is based on complementary competencies: Eycore provides the SAR radar, while KNA provides the satellite platform. Together, they create a fully European solution, ensuring rapid, sovereign access to high-resolution imagery, day and night, regardless of weather conditions,” Kusowski said.
Eycore is also in talks with a number of “global satellite system integrators” who are considering using Eycore’s radar sensors in their constellations, Kusowski said, declining to share additional details on those discussions.
Headquartered in Poland’s capital Warsaw, Eycore also maintains an office in Bristol, in the U.K., which plays a role in the company’s international expansion plans. The business has spun off Polish radar producer Advanced Protection Systems.