Space-based Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities are core enablers for Defence and Security missions.Today, several European Member States own or are developing sovereign high-end space-based optical, SAR and SIGINT assets and associated capabilities allowing them to understand crises and complex situations outside Europe and at its boundaries. However, these highly performing assets allow only limited revisit over an area of interest.
-Development of a European space-based Earth observation multi-sensor constellation of small satellites for ISR applications
-Definition of the concept of operations (CONOPS) for such capability, its overall architecture including system level activities (e.g., choice of orbits, inter-satellite links (ISL), data relay satellites, ground stations, raw data management and processing and ISR post-processing analysis) and the definition of each component of the end-to-end system, composed of the satellite platform, the ISR payloads and the ground segment(s).
-Consideration of various options for each component of the system based on existing solutions, adapted solutions and/or new developments.
Development of an affordable constellation of small satellites, including its ground segments able to handle various types of sensor payloads (e.g., optical video, low light, infrared, hyperspectral, RADAR, SIGINT) for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications. Such a constellation would complement high-end existing military capabilities while allowing responsive and smart tasking and data collection for near real-time tactical use.
