Image: Iceye

New technology is making it more economically feasible to make greater use of smaller satellites. As the goal now is to get as much lightweight technology as possible into a small space, Finnish engineers have a competitive edge, as years of mobile phone development during the Nokia heyday have made many technical specialists experts in the compact packaging of small parts.

But that’s not the only way the field is expanding in Finland. Finnish companies and research facilities have been closely involved in most of the major European space projects in recent years, participating in some way or another for example since 1988 in more than 80 space launches, in cooperation with different countries.

80 new businesses in the field

While the development of many aspects of space technology has become more commonplace, it has made it possible for several new businesses to be born. Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, says that there are already 80 new companies working on space-related products in Finland.

Satellites in space are already the setting for medical research, weather and wildlife monitoring and transmitting information. As the practice picks up speed, the difference between space technology and other industrial and commercial applications becomes increasingly blurred.

Because space-related developments are so expensive, however, Finland’s contribution has always been its top-flight competence in several technical areas.

“We’ve got very skilled students who are well placed to go to become great scientists and engineers, when they are properly trained. There’s no way we will ever be able to compete in terms of volume, so it has to be all about high standards and quality,” says Helsinki University’s professor of space physics, Hannu E. J. Koskinen.

Start-up investors in Finland agree. Peter Vesterbacka, the founder of the Rovio gaming company behind the phenomenally successful Angry Birds franchise, said as much in an Yle interview on Monday. Vesterbacka even said he would like to see a Finnish-manned space ship in space someday.

Iceye as an example

Iceye, a Finnish start-up based in Espoo, is a good example of the crop of new space technology-related businesses. The satellite technology and fast remote sensing data it provides is useful in maritime shipping and navigation, monitoring natural and environmental disasters and forest mapping, for example.

In operation now for two years, Iceye will launch its first “proof-of-concept” satellite in 2017.

“We got this service idea in 2012 during a ventures programme at Aalto University, when we discovered that a microsatellite service like this can be developed with relatively low-priced components and at reasonable cost. While we don’t pretend to provide top-notch image quality, we are able to bring the image to the customer within just a few hours – globally. Customers are actually prepared to pay for such a fast service,” said Pekka Laurila, CFO and one of the founders of this start-up, in a late 2016 Team Finland article.

The 25 Iceye employees developed a system composed of over 20 microsatellites that can provides real-time information on the planet’s ice cover situation or monitor oil spills or even keep tabs on illegal fishing activities on the globe’s seas.

From state to private - and back again

Most radar satellites in space today are government owned. The data they sell to private companies tends to be very expensive and takes several days to deliver – far too long of a delay in many sectors.

Once Iceye gets its satellites in place, it plans to sell the data it collects to maritime and oil industries. It also believes that the agriculture sector and insurance companies might be interested. If things go well, the system could be developed further so the process is reversed: private firms like theirs would start selling their data to interested states.

“Only a few countries and defence forces own satellites with radar capabilities at present, as there are no other microsatellite systems,” Laurila told Yle.

Some 18 months ago, the budding company raised over 2.5 million euros in seed money from US and Finnish capital investors. The EU Commission and Tekes have also provided product development financing.

“We’ve got a target of more than a billion euros. We wouldn’t have pursued this concept if we weren’t confident that it would generate more than a hundred million euros in annual turnover. We’ve got big business opportunities in our sights,” the Iceye co-founder said.