On Friday, April 24, 2026, Eycore, a Polish new-space company, announced via LinkedIn that its first satellite for radar-based spatial imaging of the Earth, equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), named Eycore-1, will be launched into low Earth orbit (LEO) in the first half of May this year.
Photo: Exolaunch
“The launch of the Eycore-1 satellite into orbit is a key moment for the company. It will allow us to test our SAR solutions in space conditions. Although our DNA comes from defense, the range of services we will offer will be much broader,” emphasized Maciej Klemm, President of Eycore.
“Our goal is to build a Polish competence chain. We are the world’s 20th-largest economy, with a rapidly developing new-space sector. We deserve to have key competencies in the country. Placing Eycore-1 in orbit is an important step in that direction,” added Tomasz Kusowski, Vice President of Eycore.
Eycore-1 is intended to mark the beginning of the development of a satellite constellation. It is the result of several years of research and design work by engineers associated with the company. Eycore’s first SAR satellite was built using a satellite platform from Lithuania’s NanoAvionics, which belongs to Norway’s Kongsberg Group. The company also published a photograph from its U.S. partner, Exolaunch, showing Eycore-1 undergoing tests in an anechoic chamber.
According to information from SpaceX, which will launch the Falcon 9 Block 5 carrier rocket as part of the CAS500-2 mission, the 37-minute launch window opens on May 2 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, or May 3 at 8:59 a.m. Polish time. The mission will lift off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and its task is to carry 46 payloads for KAI, Argotec S.r.l., Exolaunch, Impulse Space, Loft-EarthDaily, Lynk Global, True Anomaly, and Planet Labs.
It should be recalled that on June 19, 2024, Eycore presented the first Polish SAR satellite and signed a letter of intent with another Polish company, Creotech Instruments, on cooperation in the design and construction of satellite platforms equipped with SAR radar instruments.
In turn, on April 15, 2025, during the 3rd ESA Security Conference, Creotech Instruments signed an agreement worth 51,925,511 EUR, or 222.559 million PLN, with ESA for the construction of a national constellation of at least three observation satellites under the CAMILA (Country Awareness Mission in Land Analysis) National Earth Observation Project.
As part of this mission, a constellation of at least three Polish observation satellites will be built: one radar satellite, one high-resolution optical satellite, and one lower-resolution optical satellite, along with ground infrastructure and a system for managing the entire space mission. Creotech Instruments is the system prime contractor, working closely with leading companies from the Polish space sector, including CloudFerro, Eycore, GMV Innovating Solutions, KP Labs, and Scanway.
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a breakthrough technology that enables continuous observation of the Earth’s surface, regardless of weather conditions or time of day. It enables imaging at night and in heavy cloud cover, which fundamentally distinguishes it from optical instruments.
Radar imaging using SAR technology is applied in many key fields, such as agriculture, climate, forestry, defense, and infrastructure. It is particularly useful for observing the effects of climate change, forecasting natural disasters and monitoring their course, and planning the extraction of natural resources.
It is also widely used in the military. For this reason, the Ministry of National Defense has invested in the construction of the POLSARIS MicroSAR Satellite Earth Observation System, under which three of six satellites have been launched, in cooperation with the Polish-Finnish company ICEYE and Military Communication Works No. 1, part of the Polish Armaments Group.
Eycore is a Polish space-sector company whose business focuses on the production and sale of satellites and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) radars. The company was established in 2021. It is based on the knowledge and experience of the founders of Advanced Protection Systems (APS), Poland’s largest manufacturer of counter-drone systems. Maciej Klemm serves as president of both companies. He founded Eycore together with his partners from APS, Radosław Piesiewicz and Tomasz Kusowski. Its team consists of scientists and engineers educated at Polish technical universities, with extensive experience in designing and building advanced radar technology solutions, as well as people with many years of experience in the space and defense industries.
On March 18 of this year, Eycore signed a letter of intent on cooperation within the “Kaszubia” Green Industrial District. The company plans to invest PLN 50 million in the construction of a new headquarters, including a production hall and clean-room facilities, which are essential for the production of precision space and radar technologies.
🚀 This May, Eycore will launch #EYCORE-1 👉the first Polish satellite equipped with #SAR radar ❗️ A major milestone for the nation’s space capabilities and a significant step toward technological sovereignty.✌️#EYCORE1 #Space #EarthObservation #FutureTech pic.twitter.com/9LbpbUxvzj
— Eycore (@Eycore_PL) April 24, 2026
🇵🇱 We are proud to announce a new launch contract and our work with Poland’s @Eycore_PL on the launch of their first SAR satellite, Eycore-1, aboard the CAS500-2 rideshare mission with @SpaceX 🚀
📸: Eycore pic.twitter.com/MDEyFB620B
— Exolaunch (@Exolaunch) April 23, 2026
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