ICEYE and Polish analytics firm SATIM have unveiled a new AI-powered product that detects and classifies vessels, vehicles, and aircraft with over 90 percent accuracy. The tool is designed to cut through the delays of manual analysis and provide faster intelligence for defense and security.
ICEYE, the Finnish operator of the world’s largest Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite constellation, has launched a new product in partnership with Polish analytics company SATIM to accelerate the use of satellite imagery for defense and security.
The product, called Detect & Classify, uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect and categorize vessels, vehicles, and aircraft captured in ICEYE’s high-resolution SAR images. By combining ICEYE’s imagery with SATIM’s object recognition technology, the companies say the product delivers both the image and the intelligence layer in one package, with accuracy rates above 90 percent.
Traditionally, SAR image analysis has required time-consuming work by specialists who manually examine pixels to identify valuable intelligence. Detect & Classify addresses this bottleneck. It automates the process and delivers rapid insights that can be used directly by intelligence analysts, tactical units, or maritime security teams.
“Our goal with Detect & Classify is to empower our customers to make faster, more informed decisions with less effort,” said John Cartwright, Senior Vice President of Data Product at ICEYE. “This is more than just an analytics tool — we’re eliminating a bottleneck between satellite imagery pixels and decision-making, giving our users near-instant situational awareness. And it’s a transformative step on the path towards ‘lights-out,’ machine-driven satellite imaging operations. That’s a fundamental shift for defense, security, and intelligence operations that use satellite imagery.”
According to the official press release of the company, the product enables intelligence analysts to spot patterns of behavior across larger datasets, allows defense teams to locate and classify targets quickly, and supports maritime forces in identifying illicit “dark vessels” that operate without transmitting their position.
SATIM Chief Executive Officer Jacek Strzelczyk said the collaboration combines complementary strengths. “Combining SATIM’s extensive object catalog with ICEYE’s high-fidelity SAR imagery creates a powerful product that eliminates manual analysis bottlenecks and provides customers with direct access to actionable intelligence, improving situational awareness and accelerating critical decisions,” he said.
ICEYE currently operates 54 SAR satellites in orbit. It provides global coverage and imaging capabilities with ground resolution down to 25 centimeters. The official website says that its technology works in all weather conditions and regardless of lighting, which makes it particularly useful for defense and maritime security. Earlier this year, ICEYE introduced a Scan Wide imaging mode capable of covering 60,000 square kilometers in a single capture. This capability allows customers to scan large areas for activity before requesting higher-resolution imagery for detailed analysis.The launch of Detect & Classify follows a joint development program announced by ICEYE and SATIM in February 2025. With the product now on the market, both companies expect to expand their footprint in commercial security operators, among others, seeking faster, scalable situational awareness.
