Airbus Defence and Space has selected Skynopy, a French NewSpace company specialising in satellite ground station services, to support the enhancement of the ground segment for its very high-resolution optical imagery services based on its Pléiades Neo constellation.
Credit: Skynopy
Pierre Bertrand (left), CEO and Co-Founder of Skynopy, and Éric Even (right), Senior Vice President, Head of Space Digital, Airbus.
Through this collaboration, Airbus Defence and Space strengthens the performance and responsiveness of its Earth observation services by leveraging Skynopy’s next-generation, fully virtualised ground station systems. The service is designed to improve Airbus’ Pléiades Neo reactivity and reduce data latency over several regions in the world, meeting the growing demand from institutional and commercial customers for faster access to very high-resolution imagery.
Enhancing responsiveness for very high-resolution Earth observation services
Pléiades Neo satellites are part of Airbus’ high-resolution optical constellation, delivering native 30cm resolution imagery with high reactivity for a wide range of applications, including defence, security, disaster management, civil engineering, environmental monitoring and commercial services.
By integrating Skynopy’s ground station services into its operations, Airbus Defence and Space is able to further optimise data acquisition and downlink performance, reducing the time between image acquisition and data availability through the OneAtlas platform. This enhanced responsiveness represents a key differentiator for demanding customers requiring faster access to critical Earth observation data.
A new approach to ground segment operations
Skynopy brings a fully software-defined ground segment, combining centralised orchestration and virtualised modem technologies to enable rapid deployment of new ground stations and flexible resource allocation. An initial operational test conducted earlier this year demonstrated record integration timelines, with new capabilities deployed within weeks and transitioned to operational service within months, while supporting real-time data downlink with high quality of service.
“This collaboration with Airbus Defence and Space illustrates how a fully software-defined and virtualised ground segment can bring tangible performance gains for very high-resolution Earth observation services,” said Antonin Hirsch, CTO and co-founder of Skynopy. “Our objective is to enable satellite operators to deploy and operate ground infrastructure faster, with greater flexibility, while delivering the levels of responsiveness and data availability expected by today’s most demanding users.”
Illustrating agile collaboration between a major industrial player and a NewSpace company
“This collaboration highlights Airbus’ ability to work with innovative European startups to continuously enhance its services and remain at the forefront of Earth observation capabilities,” said Eric Even, Head of Space Digital at Airbus Defence and Space.
It also reflects the growing role of agile, software-driven ground segment solutions in supporting next-generation satellite systems.
Skynopy’s model, based on a hybrid network of shared and proprietary ground infrastructure, contributes to strengthening the European space ecosystem and supporting sovereign capabilities, in line with Airbus’ long-standing commitment to innovation, industrial excellence and reliability.