Space industry

KSAT plans to use PierSight satellite data to track ships

PierSight’s announcement describes evaluation through Vake under a letter of intent, with commercial data supply dependent on a future satellite launch.

27 September 2026 at 1:18 pm ISTBy Industry Desk1 min read

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KSAT’s SvalSat ground station on Platåberget, Svalbard, photographed on March 23, 2015. Credit: Bernt Rostad / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Original image, unchanged; this archival view does not depict the PierSight agreement.

Norway’s Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) intends to evaluate maritime surveillance data from India’s PierSight for its Vake platform, according to a PierSight announcement dated September 27, 2026. The company describes a signed letter of intent for a potential customer relationship.

PierSight plans to combine synthetic aperture radar imaging with Automatic Identification System reception, which collects ships’ transponder broadcasts. The proposed combination would let Vake compare radar detections with transmitted identities, including detecting vessels whose transponders are silent, according to the announcement.

Vake chief executive Rudi Thomassen describes the work in the release as exploring PierSight’s satellites for maritime awareness. KSAT acquired a majority stake in Vake in 2024; its acquisition statement said the satellite analytics company would continue operating independently.

PierSight now targets 2027 for Varuna 2.0, its first commercial satellite. The announcement provides no committed purchase value or date for operational data delivery.

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