Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the facilities of ICEYE company in Neo Psychiko on Monday afternoon. The company specializes in manufacturing and operating SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellites. The company is building Greece’s first two SAR satellites, which will be launched into orbit by the end of 2025, while its Greek facilities operate a new, exclusive production line for satellite subsystems.
The Prime Minister, accompanied by Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou and Deputy Minister Christos Dermentzópoulos, toured the company’s offices and production areas and was briefed on its operations by ICEYE CEO Rafał Modrzewski and ICEYE Hellas head Vasilis Chaloulakos.
Mitsotakis during ICEYE visit: Critical to remain at the technological cutting edge of progress
At the beginning of the visit, the Prime Minister stated: “Allow me to make three introductory observations. First, it’s remarkable that this is a European success story and that Europe can prove it can have a leading presence in very advanced future technologies. Second, I’m very pleased you have a presence in Greece, because we want to be part of this ecosystem and attract talent from abroad, but also from Greece, ensuring that Greek human capital can contribute to the company’s development. And of course, my third observation is that we become part of your ecosystem through our own satellites, which are critical for environmental monitoring, whether we’re talking about natural disasters or other applications, as well as for the country’s defense and security.
We live in an era when investments in defense and security have become a European priority. There are many European resources being mobilized. For now, this involves national funds. Let’s hope that at some point they will also be European. For us, it’s critical to remain at the technological cutting edge of the progress we’re making as Europe. And when we choose our winners in these new emerging technologies, we should support, I believe, these technologies, as well as the companies that have proven they can truly lead globally in technologies that will be absolutely critical for our future security.
Therefore, I’m happy you’re here and I look forward to learning more about what you’re doing in Greece, what the satellites have to offer us, more broadly to the government, and how you can expand your presence in Greece by increasing employment and making your office in Greece one of your most important offices“.
Papastergiou during ICEYE visit: Greek scientists have returned and are employed in the ecosystem
For his part, Digital Governance Minister Dimitris Papastergiou noted: “In today’s visit with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to ICEYE facilities, we saw with great joy that the company didn’t just come to formally open an office but is manufacturing Greek microsatellites. Now, parts of global production are manufactured in our country by the company that leads in space technology. Extremely important is the fact that through the Greek Microsatellite Program, Greek scientists have returned and are employed in the ecosystem. The General Secretariat of Telecommunications and Post and ELKED (Hellenic Space Center) with ESA’s (European Space Agency) contribution creates the conditions for Greece to acquire its own power in space. And it’s very important to see the solutions in various policy areas that can ‘come’ from space“.
See photos and video from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to ICEYE company facilities:
Greece’s first 2 SAR satellites to be launched by end of 2025
During the visit, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed by ICEYE leadership about the first two SAR satellites being manufactured by the company for the Greek state, expected to be launched by the end of 2025, contributing significantly to the National Microsatellite Program. Currently, components manufactured in Greece represent approximately 15% of each satellite and are exported for the construction of the company’s global fleet.
The Earth observation satellites will operate day and night, regardless of weather conditions, and will provide near real-time high-precision satellite imagery. They will be utilized for monitoring marine and terrestrial environments, managing natural disasters such as floods and fires, as well as for security and defense applications, while being combined with artificial intelligence tools to provide high-value analytical products to end users, overall enhancing national technological and strategic autonomy in crisis management and natural disaster response.
It was also announced that through the National Microsatellite Program, the Ministry of National Defense will have access to very high-resolution SAR satellite data.
New exclusive satellite subsystem production line in Greece
The Prime Minister was also briefed on an extremely significant development in space technology: ICEYE Hellas plans to begin full satellite manufacturing in Greece by 2026, from the first component to final assembly. Until now, production was exclusively done in Finland, although the company’s satellites are sold and used worldwide.
This way, Greece will become the second location in Europe where ICEYE will manufacture satellites from scratch, creating a production line capable of producing 3-4 satellites simultaneously and at least 8 annually.
Critical satellite subsystems for the company’s global fleet, including components of satellites to be launched for the Greek state, are manufactured at the company’s production facility in Greece by engineers, programmers and technicians, several of whom have returned from abroad to contribute to the development of the Greek space industry.
The company has presence in 10 countries, employs more than 900 people and has secured funding exceeding $500 million.
The visit also included, from the government side, General Secretary of Telecommunications and Post Konstantinos Karantzalos and General Secretary of National Security Thanos Dokos.
