France’s Directorate-General for Armament has awarded Airbus Defence and Space, with Unseenlabs as co-contractor, the CASSIOPÉE programme to renew the country’s space-based signals-intelligence capability. The contract was unveiled in Paris during the International Space Summit and will replace the CERES constellation by 2032, preserving France’s sovereign military SIGINT capacity.
Airbus will act as system integrator and provide the ground segment, control centre and an S250-based satellite solution. Unseenlabs will contribute mission planning, ground and onboard processing, and an innovative payload. The new system is designed to improve technical performance and responsiveness while forming the sovereign core of the CELESTE electromagnetic capability programme.
The award also deepens Airbus’s role in France’s defence-space sector and expands Unseenlabs from a radio-frequency detection specialist into a partner on a national military SIGINT programme. The deal does not include a disclosed value, satellite count or detailed delivery schedule beyond the 2032 transition target.