Poland will acquire three synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites under a €200mn agreement with Polish-Finnish satellite operator ICEYE, the company said on May 14.

The contract comes in the context of increased regional security concerns following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In response, Poland has intensified its defence spending, particularly on surveillance, deterrence and situational awareness systems.

The satellites will support the Polish Armed Forces under the MikroSAR programme, designed to provide independent border monitoring and enable rapid responses to emerging threats, particularly along NATO’s eastern frontier.

The agreement also includes an option to purchase three additional satellites and further ground-based infrastructure within the next 12 months. The package includes a mobile platform for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), allowing near real-time tasking, data download, and analysis.

“This is a great day for the Polish Armed Forces and Poland, because they are gaining full independence in radar reconnaissance and imaging,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a statement.

“The system was engineered to also enable sharing capacity and cross-tasking with other nations, if so desired, to optimise the use of the combined fleets for enhancing collective space defence capabilities of European and allied nations,” ICEYE CEO Rafał Modrzewski said.

The contract enters into force immediately and aims to provide Polish forces with sovereign access to continuous satellite-based observation, regardless of weather or daylight conditions.

ICEYE, based in Finland and operating internationally, owns the world’s largest constellation of SAR satellites. The company has launched 48 spacecraft to date and provides imagery with a resolution of up to 25 centimetres.