PARIS - Satrec Initiative, a South Korean company, is teaming up with its parent company Hanwha Systems to supply high-resolution Earth imagery for the synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) constellation that Hanwha announced in July. Because nothing says "we see you" quite like a satellite that can spot a dime from orbit.

Satrec Initiative already acquires 25-centimeter optical imagery with its SpaceEye-T satellite, launched in 2025. To complement Hanwha's 64-satellite SAR constellation - designed to provide 30-minute revisit by 2031 - Satrec Initiative plans to manufacture and launch four satellites to gather 10-centimeter-class optical imagery, Eugene Kim, Satrec Initiative executive vice president, told SpaceNews at the World Space Business Week conference here. That's roughly the width of a credit card, which is either impressive or terrifying, depending on your feelings about privacy.

"Together with ultra-high-resolution SAR and ultra-high-resolution electro-optical, the constellation is expected to open up new opportunities to provide Satellite as a Service in the defense and intelligence field," Kim said. In addition, customers will have access to artificial intelligence-based satellite imagery analysis from Satrec Initiative subsidiary SI Analytics for "timely and accurate actionable intelligence," he added. Because why have humans squint at pixels when an algorithm can do it faster and with fewer coffee breaks?

As Earth imagery market leaders shift toward higher resolution, "Satrec Initiative is trying to stay in front," Kim said. The competition is not exactly slacking. Airbus is developing Pléiades Neo Next satellites to gather 20-centimeter imagery in 2028. Vantor plans to gather 20-centimeter-class imagery with its Vantage constellation. ImageSat International announced plans Sept. 8 to gather Earth imagery with 25-centimeter native resolution. So the race to see who can see the smallest thing continues, with all the subtlety of a high-stakes staring contest.

To achieve 10-centimeter-class imagery, Hanwha satellites will operate in very low Earth orbit, at altitudes of less than 400 kilometers. That's close enough to practically wave hello.

"Operating that low is harder, because atmospheric drag and atomic-oxygen exposure wear on spacecraft, so Hanwha will begin with a test satellite near 500 kilometers and lower the orbit incrementally to gather data for future craft," Hanwha said in a July 2 news release. In other words, they'll dip a toe in the upper atmosphere before diving into the deep end of orbital decay.