SILVER SPRING, Md. (NOAA PR) — NOAA and CNES, the French space agency, are just two months away from the planned launch of Argos-4, an advanced satellite instrument that will track the movement of wildlife, particularly marine mammals and sea turtles, while also collecting critical environmental data around the world. 

PARIS (CNES PR) — In partnership with CNES and Airbus Defense & Space and as part of the TELEO project, Safran Data Systems has successfully delivered the first in a series of digital modems dedicated to Earth-Space optical communications: the Cortex Lasercom.

Laser optical communications will make it possible to achieve speeds 10 to 100 times higher than the radio frequency communications currently used. Heir to the Cortex HDR, the world reference satellite imagery reception modem, Safran Data Systems has developed the Cortex Lasercom modem equipped with processing and decoding capabilities allowing to reach a record speed of 10 Gigabits per second of bit rate for Earth-Space optical communications, a level unequaled in the world.

The Cortex Lasercom will be used in several cooperation projects between Safran, Airbus and CNES, and will equip future optical ground stations (OGS) (Optical Ground Stations) marketed by Safran. These OGS will allow the link with all future satellites that will carry laser communication capabilities with the Earth. Two demonstrations on Airbus and CNES programs will take place in 2023, a world first: LASIN on the constellation of CO3D imaging satellites, and TELEO on the future BADR-8 telecommunications satellite. On this occasion, the Cortex Lasercom will be equipped with error-correcting codes developed by Airbus Defense & Space, which make it possible to deliver useful and error-free information to the user.

PARIS (CNES PR) — At the end of 2021, CNES launched a call for applications to host micro and mini-launchers at the Guiana Space Center, thus expressing, in close collaboration with ESA, its desire to open the space port of Europe to new operators.

PARIS (ESA PR) — A large data-driven telecommunications satellite that uses innovative technology to keep cool as well as other innovations – developed under an ESA Partnership Project – has started its commercial service.

The satellite will provide broadband connectivity for commercial shipping, aviation, governments and enterprises through its operator, SES, as well connecting underserved areas and accelerating digital inclusion.

• Isar Aerospace has been selected by French Space Agency CNES to fly satellites from equatorial Guiana Space Centre (CSG)
• By securing yet another launch site in Europe, Isar Aerospace gains even more flexibility for its customers and adds an important pillar for future growth
• Opening of CSG for high frequency launches essential to serve growing global market for satellite launches

MUNICH, 21 July 2022 (Isar Aerospace PR) – Isar Aerospace, Europe’s leading and most well-funded private European launch service provider for small and medium satellite deployment, today announced that it has been selected by the French Space Agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales) to operate its rockets at the Diamant site of CSG (Centre Spatial Guyanais) in French Guiana. In the course of the open call of CNES, Isar Aerospace has signed a binding term sheet that lays the foundation to conduct commercial and institutional launch operations at CSG from 2024 onwards.

PARIS (CNES PR) — On June 30, 2022, the European Commission selected the CARIOQA-PMP (Cold Atom Rubidium Interferometer in Orbit for Quantum Accelerometry – Pathfinder Mission Preparation) project as part of the Horizon Europe calls for tenders on quantum technologies for space gravimetry. 

While gravimetry at the service of climate study is a theme to which the European Commission is very attentive, this project, coordinated by CNES, will make it possible to develop, within a European industrial framework, the engineering model of the accelerometer which will equip the CARIOQA demonstration space mission. This significant contribution aims to place Europe at the forefront of the development of quantum technologies for space.

PARIS (CNES PR) — On Tuesday July 12, 2022, the Pitch Day of the CNES Artificial Intelligence R&D Challenge applied to space transport was held. The objective of this challenge was to imagine innovative concepts and breakthrough technologies for launchers by 2040.

Start-ups, TPI, SMEs, associations, laboratories and large industrial groups were invited to present their innovation proposals to an audience of experts from the space sector, partners, supervisory authorities, industrialists… In total, 700,000 euros in contracts from the CNES were won by the winners, for an amount of up to 100,000 euros, in order to boost innovation activities and develop the space economy.

• Following the success of its inaugural flight, Vega C will now begin its operational phase, under the responsibility of Arianespace, with a target of at least four launches per year and a fast-growing backlog that already includes 7 launches and 10 auxiliary payloads.
• Vega C is an upgrade to the Vega launcher and can better answer institutional and commercial customers’ needs. Thanks to its increased capabilities, Vega C will serve the burgeoning Earth observation market as well as long-term institutional and commercial needs.
• The first commercial launch of Vega C is scheduled in November 2022. The flight, designated VV22, will deliver Pléiades Neo 5 and 6, a pair of satellites wholly funded, manufactured and operated by Airbus.

KOUROU, French Guiana (Arianespace PR) — On Wednesday, July 13 at 10:13 am local time in Kourou, French Guiana, the first Vega C, the new European launcher designed and manufactured by AVIO, was successfully launched under the supervision of ESA from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana (South America).

PARIS (CNES PR) — The week of June 27, 2022, on the occasion of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the French space agency at the French Embassy in Japan, the President and CEO of CNES, Philippe Baptiste, met with Takayuki Kobayashi, Minister of Economic Security, in charge of Japan’s space policy, and Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of JAXA. This visit contributed to confirming Japan as one of CNES’s leading international partners, allowing discussions on current projects and cooperation prospects.

ArianeGroup has been selected by the European Commission to run two major projects in its Horizon Europe research framework program.

• The SALTO project will facilitate the first flight tests of the Themis reusable stage demonstrator in Kiruna, Sweden.
• The ENLIGHTEN project will speed up the development and introduction of reusable engine technologies.
• Each project is built on the joint expertise of ArianeGroup, industry, research institutes and start-ups, to accelerate Europe’s transition to increasingly innovative, competitive and eco-friendly access to space.

ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, France (ArianeGroup PR) — Following the call for projects issued by the European Commission as part of its Horizon Europe program designed to encourage and accelerate innovation, ArianeGroup has been given responsibility for two particularly ambitious projects to speed up the development of reusable, ecofriendly European launchers. ArianeGroup will be heading the SALTO and ENLIGHTEN projects, bringing together numerous academic and industrial partners, including innovative start-ups.