SPACEBEL has started the year 2013 in style. We have been awarded several contracts in the frame of the CSO “Composante Spatiale Optique (Optical Space Component)” programme under French leadership, which will take over from the Helios observation satellites for image provision and processing. SPACEBEL has already been contributing to the ground segment of the Helios programme since 2003.

Thanks to new and more efficient technologies, CSO will ensure the capacity for a constant day and night observation, identification of smaller targets and provision of images within a shorter time.

The construction of the first two CSO satellites is carried out by Airbus, prime contractor, under the supervision of CNES on behalf of the French Defence Ministry, while Thales Alenia Space will realize the optical instruments. CSO is part of the European initiative MUSIS “Multinational Space-based Imaging System for Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Observation” in cooperation with Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece and Poland.

SPACEBEL is involved in the development of the CSO mission ground segment with CNES as project manager. For the programming centre, under leadership of Capgemini & CS-SI, our company is responsible for the development of programming components and also provides support in the engineering and integration-validation phases. For the multi-mission control centre, under leadership of ATOS, SPACEBEL is responsible for the automation system. Finally, for the imaging system, with Thales Services as prime contractor, SPACEBEL designs and develops general services.

Not only is SPACEBEL deeply honored by the confidence of its industrial customers and CNES Toulouse, but we are also delighted to bring our expertise to this ambitious and innovative programme.