Airbus, Unseenlabs to Build France’s Next-Generation Military SIGINT Satellites.
Airbus’ ANASIS-II Satellite. (Representational Image).
Airbus-Unseenlabs Satellite Partnership for CASSIOPÉE Programme: France is moving to renew one of its most important space-based military intelligence capabilities, with Airbus Defence and Space and French New Space company Unseenlabs selected to develop the country’s next-generation signal intelligence satellite system.
The announcement was made by Catherine Vautrin, France’s Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans’ Affairs, on 11 September on the sidelines of the International Space Summit.
France’s Directorate-General for Armament, known as the DGA, has awarded the CASSIOPÉE contract to Airbus Defence and Space as lead contractor, with Unseenlabs serving as its co-contractor.
The programme is designed to ensure that France retains an operational space-based signal intelligence, or SIGINT, capability when the current CERES satellite constellation reaches the end of its operational role.
CASSIOPÉE is expected to succeed CERES by 2032. Beyond simply replacing existing satellites, the new system is intended to provide improved technical performance and greater responsiveness.
What is CASSIOPÉE?
CASSIOPÉE is being developed as a sovereign space intelligence system and will form the high-performance core of France’s CELESTE, or Space Electromagnetic Capability, programme.
At its most basic level, space-based SIGINT involves detecting and analysing electromagnetic signals produced by systems on the ground or elsewhere.
These signals can include radar emissions and telecommunications transmissions. Analysing them can help identify and characterise transmitters and track their activity.
For a military, this information can contribute to a broader understanding of what is happening in an area of strategic interest.
Rather than relying only on traditional visual observation or other forms of intelligence, electromagnetic intelligence can provide information about the electronic activity associated with military and other systems.
That makes SIGINT an important component of modern military intelligence and situational awareness.
Why space-based signal intelligence matters
The ability to collect electromagnetic intelligence from space is closely connected to national security and strategic autonomy.
Satellites can observe electromagnetic activity over large areas without requiring a permanent physical presence in the region being monitored.
The information gathered can help France detect, identify and monitor transmitters that may represent potential threats or provide important information about military activity.
According to the companies involved in CASSIOPÉE, the capability can support both strategic monitoring and operational activities.
For France, maintaining this capability independently is also a question of sovereignty.
A country that can gather and analyse critical intelligence using its own systems has greater freedom to assess situations and make decisions without depending entirely on foreign intelligence providers.
The CASSIOPÉE programme is therefore not simply a satellite replacement project. It forms part of France’s broader effort to maintain an independent ability to understand developments in strategically important regions.
Airbus takes the lead
Under the contract, Airbus Defence and Space will serve as the system integrator.
The company will provide the ground segment and control centre, alongside a satellite solution based on its latest-generation S250 platform.
The platform has most recently been used for the CO3D constellation, according to Airbus.
The role of the ground segment is particularly important because a satellite constellation is only one part of a space-based intelligence system. Data collected in orbit needs to be received, processed, analysed and converted into useful information.
Airbus will therefore be responsible for integrating the different elements of the CASSIOPÉE system and ensuring that its space and ground components operate together.
Unseenlabs brings New Space expertise
Unseenlabs will contribute its specialist expertise in mission planning as well as ground and on-board processing.
The company will also provide a ground segment and an innovative payload for the programme.
The partnership brings together two different strands of France’s space industry.
Airbus is one of the country’s established major space and aerospace companies, with extensive experience in satellites and large-scale defence programmes. Unseenlabs, meanwhile, represents the French New Space sector and has developed expertise in space-based electromagnetic intelligence.
The companies say their combination of capabilities will support the development of a sovereign SIGINT system designed to respond to changing operational requirements.
For Unseenlabs, the contract also represents an opportunity to apply technologies developed in the commercial and New Space environment to a major national defence capability.
Replacing the CERES constellation
CASSIOPÉE is being developed as the successor to France’s CERES constellation.
CERES provided France with an operational space-based electromagnetic intelligence capability, allowing the country to collect information from electromagnetic emissions.
The transition to CASSIOPÉE is intended to ensure continuity rather than create a gap in this capability.
The target date of 2032 is therefore significant. France wants its next-generation system ready to take over as the existing capability is replaced.
The new system is expected to deliver improvements in both performance and responsiveness, meaning the objective is not simply to reproduce what CERES can already do.
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A question of French strategic autonomy
The CASSIOPÉE programme also reflects France’s wider defence policy emphasis on strategic autonomy.
France has long sought to retain independent capabilities in areas considered critical to national security. Space-based intelligence falls firmly within that category.
Modern military operations increasingly depend on access to information about activities in distant regions. Electromagnetic signals can provide valuable indications of the presence and behaviour of radars, communications systems and other transmitters.
Maintaining an independent capability to gather and interpret that information gives French decision-makers another source of intelligence when assessing potential threats.
It can also support military operations by providing information relevant to planning and situational awareness.
Strengthening France’s space industry
The contract has an industrial significance as well.
The partnership between Airbus and Unseenlabs brings together an established European aerospace manufacturer and a French New Space company.
Airbus described the agreement as a contribution to French sovereignty and strategic autonomy, while highlighting the strength of the country’s space ecosystem.
Unseenlabs similarly said the programme demonstrates the potential of combining the capabilities of a long-established space company with those of a newer technology-focused player.
That cooperation could become increasingly important as governments seek to develop defence space systems that combine the reliability of established industrial platforms with technologies emerging from smaller specialist companies.
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What comes next
CASSIOPÉE will now move forward as France’s next-generation space-based SIGINT programme, with the objective of succeeding CERES by 2032.
The system will combine satellites, payloads, mission planning, processing capabilities and ground infrastructure into a single intelligence architecture.
Its purpose will be to provide France with continuous access to electromagnetic intelligence while improving responsiveness and technical performance.
For Paris, the programme represents more than a modernisation of military satellites. It is an investment in the ability to independently monitor strategic developments, support military operations and make national security decisions.
For Airbus and Unseenlabs, it represents a major collaboration between established aerospace expertise and France’s growing New Space sector.
As electromagnetic activity becomes an increasingly important source of intelligence in modern conflicts, France is seeking to ensure that it retains the ability to observe, analyse and respond from space — using a system designed and operated under its own sovereign capabilities.
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