21.06.2025
LE BOURGET—The French government has launched several military space efforts, spanning space situational awareness initiatives to nanonsatellites.
“Nanosatellites present significant opportunities for defense, particularly given the short time to make them available and the capabilities offered,” the French Defense Ministry said June 19. French defense procurement agency DGA said it would therefore embark on efforts to promote development of nanosatellite industry.
The Nexus program aims to augment France’s Syracuse geostationary orbit (GEO) military satellites with a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) constellation in partnership with Eutelsat. As part of the project, Eutelsat would provide priority access to France on the OneWeb constellation over a 10-year period. The French communications services provider will enhance security functionality on the system as part of the effort, the French Defense Ministry said.
The initiative also effectively supports Europe’s IRIS2 secure communications project, in which Eutelsat is a partner.
DGA also said it planned to accelerate work of startup Greenerwave on digital beam-forming antenna technology under a project called Copernic. The attraction, DGA said, is that it couples high performance with low energy consumption and low cost. The company is effectively using off-the-shelf components and relies on complex software.
The Rivesalt program is focused on enhancing space situational awareness in LEO, medium Earth orbit and GEO.
Quelle: AVIATION WEEK