Three new SAR satellites boost UAE’s growing space ambitions
Yesterday, Space42 announced the successful launch of three SAR satellites as part of its Earth Observation (EO) constellation. The satellites were developed in partnership with ICEYE, a specialized company in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operations, and are named Foresight-3, Foresight-4, and Foresight-5.
The newly launched satellites lifted off on the Bandwagon-4 rideshare mission with SpaceX. The launch was successful, and routine operations are ongoing.
The Foresight Constellation started with its first satellite launch in August 2024, followed by another in January 2025. It uses SAR imagery and Space42’s AI platform, GIQ, to speed up decision-grade geospatial intelligence for governments, industries, and partners around the world.
Hasan Al Hosani, CEO of Smart Solutions at Space42, said: “Expanding the Foresight Constellation to five satellites in just over one year demonstrates our commitment to operate as a center of excellence for space innovation and enhances the space ecosystem we are developing, which can scale globally from Abu Dhabi.”
Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE, said: “By launching mid-inclination SAR satellites, we are enabling Space42 to deliver persistent coverage across key regions at middle latitudes. We look forward to building even greater capabilities in the UAE and collaborating with our partners as they advance their space ambitions.”
The key differentiator of the mission is its geospatial intelligence capability. The satellites operate at 25-centimeter resolution, allowing GIQ to turn continuous visibility into real-time insights, with daily revisit rates, sharper change detection, and lower latency in delivering intelligence.
SAR satellites have demonstrated substantial benefits in recent years. One key instance was when these satellites confirmed that the Atatürk Dam, the third-largest dam in the world, was safe after the devastating earthquake that struck southern Türkiye and northern Syria in 2023. More recently, these satellites proved vital for monitoring the historic floods that occurred in April 2024 in the UAE.
The global SAR market is expected to increase from $5.8 billion to $9.8 billion by 2030. This growth is expected to be primarily driven by governments, as SAR systems can speed up emergency response times by as much as 90% and cut infrastructure operators’ predictive maintenance costs by around 30%.
The new Foresight satellites were produced in Finland, tested, and integrated for the first time at Space42’s Space Systems Assembly, Integration, and Testing (AIT) facility in Abu Dhabi, then launched from the United States. This highlights the importance of global cooperation in the industry.
