Iceye raises 1 billion euros to expand SAR satellite systems
HOUSTON - Iceye, a Finnish company that develops and operates radar imaging satellites, announced a funding round worth than 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) that values the company at more than 10 billion euros.
Iceye announced June 9 it raised 450 million euros in a Series F round led by investment firm General Atlantic, with participation from Solidium, Tesi, Varma, Ilmarinen, Lifeline Ventures, Nokia, Qatar Investment Authority and TCV. A secondary placement brought the total value of the round to more than 1 billion euros.
Helsinki-based Iceye has developed a constellation of synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, imaging satellites. Its business includes selling satellites and access to the constellation to governments.
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One example is MikroSAR, a SAR satellite system it built for Poland's armed forces. Under a May 2025 contract worth 200 million euros, Iceye built and launched four satellites dedicated to that system within one year.
Iceye has also partnered with German defense company Rheinmetall on a SAR imagery constellation, winning a $1.9 billion contract from the German military in December. The companies established a joint venture that includes setting up a satellite production line in Germany.
Iceye said the funding will allow it to scale up similar efforts for other government customers. The company can produce 50 satellites a year now but is working to increase that to 100 annually by 2028.
"Sovereign intelligence from space is entering a new era, and the window to build it is now," said Rafal Modrzewski, chief executive of Iceye, in a statement. "This funding enables us to accelerate the delivery of new capabilities to governments and customers faster than ever before."
The company announced in March it recorded revenue of more than 250 million euros in 2025 and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of more than 100 million euros. It had a contracted backlog of 1.5 billion euros, which it said was dominated by national security and intelligence business rather than commercial demand.
Those results helped attract investors like General Atlantic. "The company pioneered the shift to next-generation, agile satellite fleets that deliver greater strategic capability with far greater cost efficiency," Sascha Günther, managing director at the firm, said in a statement. "Rafal and the team are taking breakthrough technology from innovation to commercial and operational success at scale, and we believe global structural demand for Iceye's intelligence will continue to accelerate."
The funding for Iceye comes amid a surge in European defense spending on space systems in a bid for strategic autonomy, reducing reliance on the United States. It comes the same day German launch company Isar Aerospace raised 270 million euros ($312 million) to support its global expansion.
Both funding announcements come on the eve of the ILA Berlin Air Show, where European defense and space autonomy are expected to be key topics.
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