19.10.2025

Credit: DGA

On 15 October, the Defence Ministers of Germany and France signed an agreement to jointly implement the ODIN’S EYE missile early warning system.

Initial development of the multinatiOnal Development INitiative for a Space-based missilE earlY-warning architecturE (ODIN’S EYE) project was funded by the European Union under the European Defence Fund. The project aims to develop a sovereign space-based early warning capability that would detect and track the launch of ballistic missiles before handing the responsibility over to ground-based radars.

In July 2021, an initial €7.5 million was awarded to an OHB System-led consortium comprising 34 companies from across Europe, tasked with completing initial studies over 24 months. In June 2023, an OHB System-led consortium, now comprising 38 companies, was awarded a €90 million contract to continue the development of the ODIN’S EYE system. This second phase of the project is being conducted over a 36-month period and involves the definition, development, integration, and verification of the entire mission and system simulator.

OHB System and its partners began the second phase of the project following the signing of the agreement in December 2023. This phase of the project is therefore expected to be concluded by late 2026.

Following the NATO Defence Ministers’ meeting in Brussels, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin signed an agreement to implement the ODIN’S EYE system. The announcement did not include a proposed deadline for the system to be operational, with Minister Pistorius stating that it would occur “as swiftly as possible.”

In addition to agreeing to implement the ODIN’S EYE system, Minister Pistorius and Minister Vautrin also signed a Letter of Intent for the Joint Early Warning for a European Lookout (JEWEL) initiative. Initially intended as a joint effort between France and Germany, the initiative aims to pair the ODIN’S EYE space component with a network of ground-based radars, leveraging existing and future technologies. The aim is to develop a complete early warning system whose availability would be “open to partners.”

Quelle: European Spaceflight LTD