Thales, Spire Global and ESSP to Develop a Space-Based Air Traffic Surveillance Service
- Thales, Spire and ESSP are joining forces to develop a satellite constellation and offer new space-based surveillance services for Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs).
- The 100+ satellite constellation will provide real-time air traffic surveillance, enhancing aviation safety, sustainability and airspace security.
Spire will develop the space segment, including system design, building the satellites and payloads, ground control and data collection. Thales will provision the ground air traffic management system and the service supervision infrastructure. ESSP will manage the certification and the delivery of the service for air traffic surveillance purposes and perform H24 operation and supervision, ensuring the compliance with real-time, safety-critical requirements imposed to ATC. The partners will also rely on the Space Alliance* formed by
The partners plan to certify, commercialize and start the operation of the service by 2027.
“The birth of a satellite constellation fully dedicated to serving the demanding needs of air traffic management, air domain awareness and national security is a groundbreaking development for the aviation industry,” said
“This innovative satellite-based surveillance service will accelerate the implementation of our new ‘Air Traffic Control as a service’ offering,” said Christian Rivierre, vice president, Airspace Mobility Solutions, Thales. “It will play a crucial role in shaping the future of the skies, serving as a vital facilitator for trajectory-based operations and laying the foundation for a safer, more environmentally friendly, and cost-efficient ATM system. Additionally, this new solution will also draw on the competences of
The aviation industry faces critical challenges, with safety, security and achieving climate impact neutrality emerging as top priorities. These challenges have placed significant strain on ATM, particularly due to the absence of a surveillance solution that is high performing, scalable, and economically viable.
The initiative will rely on Thales's global stature in ATM, built upon more than 50 years of terrestrial surveillance experience and the longstanding space technological background of
The new end-to-end system will meet the rigorous requirements, including latency, coverage and revisit standards, set by the
The constellation's satellites are designed to be replenished every five years, ensuring the system offers the latest and most advanced technology. This evolutionary roadmap approach ensures that end users' operational needs are consistently met with the latest advancements.
In parallel to building the initial constellation, the companies will design and demonstrate a system that goes beyond ADS-B to geolocate the position of aircraft in real time, without relying on GNSS/GPS satellites. This novel system will provide a resilient solution for tracking aircraft that cannot be impacted by vulnerabilities with GNSS/GPS such as interference or outages. The expected follow-on of a successful demonstration will be the commercialization of a second generation, highly resilient service — opening the door to holistic infrastructure optimization strategies for ANSPs by the end of the coming decade.
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies specialized in three business domains: Defence & Security, Aeronautics & Space, and Cybersecurity & Digital identity.It develops products and solutions that help make the world safer, greener and more inclusive.The Group invests close to €4 billion a year in Research & Development, particularly in key innovation areas such as AI, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, cloud technologies and 6G.Thales has close to 81 0001 employees in 68 countries. In 2023, the Group generated sales of €18.4 billion.
_______________________________
1 Excluding Transport business, which is being divested
About
Spire (NYSE: SPIR) is a global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, offering unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth so that organizations can make decisions with confidence in a rapidly changing world. Spire builds, owns, and operates a fully deployed satellite constellation that observes the Earth in real time using radio frequency technology. The data acquired by Spire’s satellites provides global weather intelligence, ship and plane movements, and spoofing and jamming detection to better predict how their patterns impact economies, global security, business operations and the environment. Spire also offers Space as a Service solutions that empower customers to leverage its established infrastructure to put their business in space. Spire has nine offices across the
About ESSP
ESSP SAS (
- GNSS for Navigation
-
Datalink for Communications - ADS-B technology in Surveillance
Learn more at https://www.essp-sas.eu/, the
* About the
Founded in 2005, the
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240613872903/en/
For media:
Head of Communications
Comms@spire.com
For investors:
Head of Investor Relations
Benjamin.Hackman@spire.com
Source: