As the space sector races toward a more commercial, congested, and contested environment, 2026 will be the year small-SWaP radio and radar technology finally shifts from niche to mainstream. For years, radar was considered too heavy, too power-hungry and too complex for smaller satellites, but that era is over.
The next generation of commercial, defence, and scientific missions will depend on compact, software-defined sensing. The industry is only beginning to recognise the opportunity, as Richard Jacklin, Commercial Lead for Space at Plextek discovers…
Going far with SAR
The first major trend is the rapid adoption of small-SWaP SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)??. By 2026, we will see commercial operators deploying SAR units under 20kg that still provide meaningful resolution and revisit capability. This changes the economics of Earth Observation (EO) entirely which currently represents a $5-6 Billion market. Imaging constellations will grow, driven largely by climate and environmental monitoring, defence and security, infrastructure ground movements, and disaster recovery.
At the same time, radar’s role in safety and in-orbit operations is expanding fast. From Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) manoeuvres to In-Orbit Services and Manufacturing (IOSM) missions and even lunar surface navigation, radar is becoming indispensable. Radars which can work well in eclipse, or with sun in boresight, cements their use in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operations. What’s striking is how similar the underlying technology is: a radar capable of spotting an uncooperative satellite from kilometres away is not far from what is needed to guide a lander through dust-filled lunar descent. The differentiator is no longer hardware, it is mmWave radars for range, altitude, and doppler, in obscured or challenging environments.
Dynamic Debris Detection
Debris detection, in particular, will be an urgent priority. The ESA and UKSA will continue advancing large-object removal missions, but the aerospace industry can no longer ignore the ongoing problem of millions of debris fragments under 10cm in size orbiting the Earth at low altitudes less than 1000 km. The recent incident involving the Chinese space station was a reminder that micro-debris is now one of the greatest operational threats in LEO and small-SWaP radar is one of the few technologies capable of detecting these smaller fragments, and improving our knowledge of low earth orbits..
Clear Comms
Looking ahead to communications, 2026 will also mark the beginning of serious 6G and Non Terrestrial Network (NTN) experimentation, for consumers, enterprise, governmental and defence users. Demand for direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connectivity is exploding, but technical obstacles remain of course. Flexible air interfaces between terrestrial and space networks, interference cancellation, seamless handovers and ML-driven optimisation of early proof-of-concepts will start to shape the standards process as R&D matures in the industry.
And Finally…
Across the UK, the talent gap in high-value engineering roles remains a major constraint. Expertise in phased-array antennas, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) firmware and signal processing, machine learning algorithms, and specialised space-programme management is in short supply, limiting the pace at which many organisations can innovate. Companies that fail to build and invest in these capabilities and people will struggle to compete; companies that partner smartly to plug these gaps will accelerate ahead.
The bottom line is clear: 2026 will be a turning point. Radar is no longer a bolt-on, it is becoming the backbone of safe, resilient and intelligent space operations. And the companies that embrace this shift now will define the next decade of capability in orbit.