Airbus has initiated the Pléiades Neo Next program to enhance its high-resolution Earth observation constellation. This initiative aims to introduce new satellite assets and capabilities, including improved native resolution. The first phase involves the development of a new satellite set to launch in the coming years.
According to Karen Florschütz, Executive Vice President of Connected Intelligence at Airbus Defence and Space, “the Pléiades Neo Next program builds on the success of our existing Pléiades Neo constellation which serves government and commercial customers around the world.” “This new program will raise the bar even higher for us to deliver images and geo-intelligence services and applications while maintaining our high standards of quality, performance, and dependability.”
Airbus Defence and Space is in charge of funding, producing, and managing the Pléiades Neo Next program. The program’s full image capacity is accessible for a variety of industries, including utilities, civil engineering, urban planning, disaster relief, agriculture, maritime, defence and intelligence, mapping, and location-based services.
The Airbus satellites can still be directly targeted by users up to several minutes before the satellite passes over the desired area. Images will be quickly received after collection using the Direct Receiving Stations (DRS) owned by the customer, either on the OneAtlas digital platform or on the ground, enabling mission-critical applications.
The Pléiades Neo and Pléiades Neo Next satellites working together will provide the greatest spatial resolution and geolocation accuracy on the market, as well as a higher revisit anyplace on Earth, up to multiple times per day. Pléiades Neo Next development will further improve the DRS, the OneAtlas platform, and the ground segment in addition to enhancing native resolution. This will result in a larger capacity of imaging requests and optimize the time between request, capture, and reception.
Airbus is enhancing its Earth observation services and capabilities using Pléiades Neo Next in order to stay at the forefront of geospatial technologies. The complementary services and applications offered by the Airbus fleet, which includes multiple resolutions, all-weather performance, and day and night capabilities, are ensured by the presence of both optical and radar satellite constellations. Meanwhile, Airbus is developing new capabilities based on stratospheric platforms.
