The first two Pléiades Neo satellites are qualified and ready for launch – despite covid challenges and in line with what we promised four years ago. They are in final preparation for their departure to the Guyana Space Centre, with launch now planned with Vega, in early 2021.
Why Pléiades Neo?
Where everything started
What is Pléiades Neo?
The satellites and ground segment
Entirely financed, manufactured, owned and operated by Airbus, Pléiades Neo is a breakthrough in the Earth observation domain that will bring customers top-level service over the coming decades.
The Pléiades Neo constellation comprises four identical and very agile satellites, whose resources are 100% commercially available. Phased at 90° and operated on the same orbit, the satellites are able to visit any point on the globe at least twice daily. In addition, their reactive tasking ability means they can make urgent acquisitions 30 to 40 minutes following request and respond to the most critical situations in near real-time.
Each Pléiades Neo satellite, based on the Airbus S950 optical platform, will add half a million km² of imagery per day to Airbus’ catalogue, and bring first rate performance:
- Possible in every orbit (multiplied by 5 compared to Pléiades)
- Freshest meteorological information taken into account
Thanks to an innovative ground based infrastructure, the associated images will be available straight from customers’ Direct Receiving Stations and through Airbus’ digital platform OneAtlas. Using big data cloud technologies for flexible, scalable storage and a searchable data archive, combined with data fusion from different sources, Pléiades Neo will facilitate development of next-generation analytics.
Customer benefits
The complete Pléiades Neo system has been designed so that the satellites can be tasked on every orbit, up to 15 minutes before polar station visibility. This means Pléiades Neo can meet the most urgent and last minute requests.
The Pléiades Neo constellation will meet a wide range of demanding customers’ needs, from civilian to military applications, offering more detail and fresher information, e.g. for monitoring:
Airbus manages the world’s largest satellite constellation, with radar and optical sensors, with resolutions ranging from 25cm to 22m. Today, Airbus’ fleet comprises 12 satellites plus partner satellites. They will soon be complemented by Pléiades Neo and CO3D, and will offer unrivalled refresh rates for very high-resolution imagery.
Did you know that the Pléiades Neo constellation consists of four Airbus S950 optical satellite products? The S950 optical is the premium product in Airbus’ comprehensive portfolio of advanced Earth Observation Satellite Systems. Offering the highest resolution on the market today, coupled with an exceptional agility and geolocation accuracy, it is prime resource for even the most delicate of missions. Read more…