India, France plan satellites for maritime surveillance: French space agency chief

[Ashwin]

India and France have planned eight-10 satellites as part of a “constellation” for maritime surveillance, French space agency CNES chief Jean-Yves Le Gall has said.

This will be India's largest space cooperation with any country, officials said.

They added that the launch of eight-10 maritime surveillance satellites will focus on the Indian Ocean, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese presence.

France will also share its expertise with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on inter-planetary missions to Mars and Venus, the Indian space agency's two major missions, Gall said.

"We started (talks) on constellation of new satellites for maritime awareness. Of course, it will take time," Gall told PTI in an interaction.

Asked how many satellites will be part of the project, he said, "It would be between eight-10."

The purpose of the constellation is monitoring sea traffic management, a CNES official said, adding that it would take less than five years to launch the satellites.

In March this year, India and France unveiled a joint vision for space, resolving to strengthen cooperation between ISRO and CNES.

"ISRO and CNES would work together for design and development of joint products and techniques, including those involving Automatic Identification System, to monitor and protect assets in land and sea. In particular, both sides will pursue the study of a constellation of satellites for maritime surveillance," the joint vision statement said.

Several crucial sea lanes of communications pass through the Indian Ocean, a region critical to the strategic interests of India and France.

While the Indian Ocean region is the prime focus for New Delhi, Paris has its territories spread across the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, officials said.

The robust space cooperation between India and France goes back six decades.

Last week, the two countries signed an agreement to share expertise on ISRO's human mission programme Gaganyaan. The space agencies of the two countries have also been working on climate monitoring on the joint missions Megha-Tropiques (launched in 2011) and Saral-Altika (launched in 2013).

They are also working on the Trishna satellite for land Infrared monitoring and the Oceansat3-Argos mission. Discussing collaboration for the mission to Venus and Mars and France's expertise on the matter, Mathieu Weiss, the managing director of CNES' India liaison office, explained, "The eyes and scientific heart of Curiosity Rover (NASA) on Mars were developed by us. France and Russia have jointly worked for the Venus mission in the past. In both the inter-planetary missions, the French scientific community is very strong and among best in the world," Weiss told PTI.

In a media briefing at Paris on Friday, Gall said CNES is currently working with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and German space agency DLR on Hayabusa 2/ MASCOT, a mission to asteroid Ryugu. CNES has also scheduled Mission BepiColombo to Mercury.

India, France plan satellites for maritime surveillance: French space agency chief

 

[Picdelamirand-oil]

Ariane 5: France launches a latest generation military telecommunications satellite​

A jewel of military technology, but also a pillar of French sovereignty. On Saturday, the Ariane 5 rocket took off from Kourou, Guyana . On board, the military communications satellite 4A of the Syracuse program. It should allow the French armies deployed to the four corners of the globe to communicate at high speed and in complete safety from ground, air, sea and submarine relays.

“Syracuse 4A is designed to withstand military attacks from the ground and in space as well as interference,” explained Colonel Stéphane Spet, spokesperson for the French Air Force and Space. It is equipped with means of surveillance of its close surroundings and with a capacity of movement to escape an attack.

Star Wars​

In July 2020, the US space command accused Moscow of having "conducted a non-destructive test of an anti-satellite weapon from space" . And in 2017, the Russian "spy satellite" Louch-Olympe had already tried to approach the Franco-Italian military satellite Athena-Fidus.


Ultimate performance, S4 is protected against the electromagnetic pulses which would result from a nuclear explosion, explains Marc Finaud, expert in the proliferation of weapons at the Geneva Political Security Center (GCSP). "This is the last warning scenario, if deterrence fails."

Communication speed tripled​

The Syracuse program represents a total investment of some 4 billion euros. The fourth generation will triple the communication speed of S3. The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) has committed with Thales to the tune of 354 million euros and with Airbus for 117 million for Syracuse 4 alone.

"There is an almost mathematical law of regular increase in the volumes of data", underlines Colonel Spet, citing the needs generated by the command systems, the representation of tactical situations in the field, the video (coming for example from Reaper drones deployed in the Sahel). Or the real-time processing of data coming from several places on the planet. Ultimately, France will have 400 stations capable of communicating with S4 from the ground, an aircraft, a ship or a submarine, according to the DGA.

Restoring pride after Australian humiliation​

However, French nuclear deterrence relies heavily on its submarines, recalls Marc Finaud, an expert in arms proliferation at the Geneva Security Policy Center (GCSP). "If an adversary is capable of modifying, hacking, damaging communications with submarines, it is the end of deterrence." The long-planned deployment of the satellite is timely as Paris pushes its project for European sovereignty in defense. France, which has sovereign maritime areas on all the seas of the globe, cannot do without a powerful technological base.

"It needs this segment to show that it has the means to achieve its ambitions," said Xavier Pasco, director of the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and specialist in space issues. "This gives credibility to all of its military tool, as well as its industrial capacity." A few weeks after the humiliation received by Australia , which gave up a huge contract for French submarines in favor of American submarines, further weakening French power in the Indo-Pacific, the S4 satellite gives pride to the wounded beast . "Politically, it is the demonstration that France remains a power perhaps middle, but whose scope of action remains international", insists Xavier Pasco.

Paris in the forefront of the arms race.​

With its two billion euros of annual investments in military and civilian space, France remains far from the top three: 50 billion for the United States, 10 for China and 4 for Russia, according to figures from 2020 from the French government. But S4 allows France to remain in the leading pack and confirms that Paris is participating in the arms race.

Marc Finaud mentions in passing the potential risk coming from the “nebula of hackers, pirates, criminal or terrorist actors who could embark on a kind of more artisanal star wars”. As for spatial geopolitics, it is stretched a little more each year. "We are talking about space warfare and this risk is accepted by everyone".

 

[Amarante]

French defense minister: Shifting from a new frontier to a new front​

By Florence Parly, Monday, Dec 6


Their names are Syracuse and Ceres. They are located more than hundreds or thousands of kilometers above our heads, and they have recently allowed France to take a new step in the defense of its citizens.

The first one is a pillar of our sovereignty: This satellite allows the French military to process and exchange millions of gigabytes of data in real time. At a time of connected warfare and the digitization of the battlefield, such a capability is essential. Without Syracuse, the French armed forces would not have been able to conduct with the same success the Hamilton operation to destroy chemical weapons in Syria in 2018. At that time, there were two satellites; the third joined the stars in October 2021.

As for Ceres, in November 2021 it offered France its first electromagnetic observation capability from space — a first in Europe. In concrete terms, it will be possible to observe any part of Earth, whatever the weather, to detect — even through the clouds — any object that emits electromagnetic waves, whether an air defense radar, an armored vehicle communicating with other vehicles or soldiers communicating with radios. The objective: to lift the fog of war and thus reduce the enemy’s ability to conceal himself or his movements. In the fight against terrorism, this will be a valuable capability.

These new satellites have a particularity: They are designed to resist military attacks from the ground and in space as well as jamming. We have seen in the past indiscreet foreign satellites whose actions have more than flirted with espionage. We are not alone; eight other countries, including Europeans, have observed the same phenomenon.

If space was the “new frontier” of the 1960s, there is no doubt that today it is a “new front” on the battlefield.

Space is today a keystone of our defense. Anticipating and planning maneuvers, spotting the enemy, guiding our forces on the ground, and communicating: Not a single one of our operations can happen without our space capabilities. Operating in and through space is our goal. That is why President Emmanuel Macron has decided to provide France with a true defense space strategy.

Europe must take up this issue, and we will be there to support it and share our vision and experience. It is necessary that the states be able to control the risks. It is necessary that we continue to defend free access to space and that we preserve our autonomy to access it. For it is our independence that is at stake. Our freedom of appreciation, access and action in space are at stake.

As France is preparing for the presidency of the European Union Council during the first semester of 2022, access to the strategic commons, especially outer space, will be on the agenda. This is also an issue we want to bring to NATO, which recognized space as a fifth operational environment in 2019. The future NATO space center of excellence will be located in Toulouse.

The stakes go far beyond the battlefield: Our entire daily life depends on our space defense. A smartphone connects to dozens of satellites every day, depending on the applications it is used for. Jamming or disabling satellites means endangering the freedom and security of citizens. Recently, a reckless anti-satellite weapon test carried out by Russia not only demonstrated the threat against satellites is not science fiction, but also created new risks by disseminating debris all over. Such irresponsible behaviors create a major risk to the security of space operations, including manned orbital flights, and can jeopardize our access to space. Therefore, France actively promotes the development under the auspices of the United Nations of a set of norms of responsible behavior in space.

In fact, space is not the only strategic common we must protect. Our daily life also depends a lot on the seabed, in particular on the cables that allow us to have access to the internet and to communicate from one continent to another. That is why France will present a seabed warfare strategy in 2022.

One thing is certain: We know space much better than we know the seabed. We now know about space, cyber and artificial intelligence; every frontier of our technological knowledge has been pushed back. But there is still one left: the seabed. This is the last frontier.

French defense minister: Shifting from a new frontier to a new front

If space was the “new frontier” of the 1960s, there is no doubt that today it is a “new front” on the battlefield.

www.defensenews.com

 

[Amarante]

Unseenlabs Launches Fifth Maritime Surveillance Satellite​

Unseenlabs, the European leader in satellite-based radio frequency (RF) geolocation of ships at sea, has successfully deployed BRO-5, the fifth satellite in its fleet.​

Unseenlabs constellation has now 5 satellites dedicated to maritime surveillance, the most developed constellation in the field of RF detection from Space.

(Unseenlabs press release)


Rennes, 14th January 2022 – This fifth deployment marks another step towards the goal of 20 to 25 satellites in orbit for the European leader in satellite-based geolocation of ships at sea by 2025. On Thursday, 13th January, at 15:25 UTC, SpaceX’s launch vehicle put BRO-5 (Breizh Reconnaissance Orbiter-5) into orbit at an altitude of 550 kilometers via the SpaceX Transporter-3 mission on Falcon 9 launcher.

This fifth launch is a real affirmation of the durability of the Unseenlabs constellation and allows the European leader to further expand its services internationally, in part by reducing its revisit time at each launch. This success enables the French company to start the year 2022 by continuing its growth and innovation through the increase of its service quality.


This fifth deployment, the second in just five months, is a demonstration of Unseenlabs’ expansion dynamic. It is part of the French space strategy, within the France 2030 plan, mentioned by Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery, last December.

A pioneering company in the French newspace industry since 2015, Unseenlabs deployed its first nanosatellite in August 2019. From then on, the company was able to provide RF geolocation data of ships at sea to its customers. In April 2021, Unseenlabs announced a €27 million fundraising round to continue its growth.

Unseenlabs Launches Fifth Maritime Surveillance Satellite - Naval News

Unseenlabs, the European leader in satellite-based radio frequency (RF) geolocation of ships at sea, has successfully deployed BRO-5, the fifth satellite in its fleet.

www.navalnews.com