Pléiades and SPOT Direct Access for Canadian Defence Department

Astrium Services’ GEO-Information division, a provider of geoinformation products and services, has been awarded a contract in North America by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA) to deliver Pléiades 1 & 2 and SPOT 5, 6 & 7 Direct Access capabilities to the Canadian Department of Defence (DND) as part of the Joint Space Support Project (JSSP).

The corresponding terminals will be integrated by MDA as part of two deployable satellite surveillance systems, providing DND access to Astrium's full range of optical imaging satellite capabilities.

This agreement marks the third major pre-launch contract signed by Astrium Services for the Pléiades program, and the first integration of Pléiades and SPOT, capabilities into transportable and deployable ground receiving stations.

Astrium's upcoming optical imaging satellite constellation is based on four satellites: Pléiades 1 & Pléiades 2, two very high-resolution satellites delivering 50-cm ortho colour products as standard, and SPOT 6 & 7, designed to extend SPOT 5's success to the 1.5-m product family. Phased on the same orbit, the constellation will enjoy unprecedented reactivity, with intra-day revisit capacity anywhere on the Earth. Multiple tasking plans per day will result in an unrivalled optimization of data collection: unforeseen weather changes, as well as last-minute requests, can be taken into account for a first-class level of service.

With four new satellites to launch over the next three years, Astrium Services is gearing up to bring its customers the best that space technology has to offer, ensuring a continuity of service until 2023.