State of California launches partnership with ICEYE to strengthen disaster response capabilities

Ongoing flood and wildfire monitoring will deliver near real-time insights to California emergency managers   

HELSINKI, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ICEYE, the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space, today announced a new partnership with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to enhance the state's preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. California has started integrating ICEYE's Flood Insights, Flood Rapid Impact, and Wildfire Insights solutions into its emergency management operations, expanding the state's ability to assess damage and allocate resources in near real time.

The partnership comes at a critical moment for California, which has experienced four of the five most destructive wildfires in U.S. history over the past decade. ICEYE has observed more than a dozen major flood events and more than 100 wildfire incidents across the state in recent years using its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation. During the 2025 Los Angeles fires, Cal OES used ICEYE data provided through a collaboration with FEMA to support emergency response efforts, demonstrating the value of persistent, all-weather satellite monitoring during rapidly evolving disaster conditions.

ICEYE onboarded Cal OES to its Flood Insights and Wildfire Insights solutions in February 2026. Today, the partnership enables Cal OES to share these solutions across all state agencies and has supported multiple incidents throughout California. ICEYE's Wildfire Insights solution was also used during a three-week wildfire response mission in Washington State in August, extending the operational use of the technology beyond California.

Through this new partnership, Cal OES will strengthen its assessments with near real-time, data-driven insights. ICEYE's Flood Insights and Flood Rapid Impact solutions provide detailed flood extent and depth data, as well as building-level impact intelligence. Wildfire Insights provides structure-level damage assessments and near real-time visibility into active wildfire events, including when smoke or darkness limits other observation methods.

Together, these capabilities provide a clearer operational picture, supporting faster resource allocation and damage assessments, including those used to inform local, state, and federal emergency declarations.

"We recognize California as a leader in emergency management. Cal OES is not shy about using new technology, and we're excited to partner with an innovative, forward-thinking state to improve responses to natural disasters," said Andy Read, Vice President of Government Solutions at ICEYE.

California is the nation's largest state by economic output and faces some of the country's most significant natural hazard risks. Its adoption of ICEYE's disaster intelligence marks a major step forward for emergency management. The partnership also comes as El Niño strengthens ahead of the 2026-27 winter, raising the potential for more extreme weather in the near future. While seasonal forecasts can help indicate where risks may be elevated, they cannot predict precisely where individual extreme events will occur. ICEYE's all-weather SAR satellites and 24/7 monitoring give Cal OES continued situational awareness as events unfold. The partnership equips the state with scalable, infrastructure-level intelligence to support faster decision-making, more efficient resource allocation, and more resilient long-term recovery planning.

About ICEYE

ICEYE is the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space. We deliver persistent monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes in any location on Earth.

ICEYE owns the world's largest and most advanced SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. To our customers we provide intelligence with unmatched quality, latency and revisit times, in any weather, day or night. To governments who choose to operate their own constellation we provide this proven capability as a sovereign system.

ICEYE-built constellations serve customers in defence and intelligence, environmental monitoring, insurance and emergency management. We enable fast decisions that contribute to a safer future.

Natively European, founded in Finland. ICEYE operates globally with over 1,000 employees.

We're a growing international team of builders. iceye.com/joinus

SOURCE ICEYE