ArianeGroup not only launches satellites into space, it also monitors them from Earth. The industrialist announced on Friday the launch of its new space surveillance service, Helix, from its Issac site in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, near Bordeaux (Gironde). Although little is known, since its activity is essentially based on the Ariane 5 launcher and soon Ariane 6, ArianeGroup has been a pioneer in space surveillance, having launched its GEOTracker system in 2011, from which Helix will take over and strengthen, in particular by allowing the “spatial situation” to be defined more precisely.
From 7,000 satellites currently in operation, space activity should increase to 30,000 satellites in the next ten years. “Faced with this exponential increase, we are going to have space congestion problems,” announces General Philippe Adam, Space Commander, Helix’s very first and main customer. In the absence of regulation in space, the risks of collision will indeed multiply.
Detect all types of satellites
But what will Helix bring compared to GEOTracker? “GEOTracker is a network of telescopes deployed in fifteen sites around the world, whose primary objective was to observe the geostationary orbit [à 36.000 km d’altitude], recalls Martin Sion, president of ArianeGroup. Helix will rely on around thirty stations around the world by 2025, and will allow us to watch what is also happening in low orbits [entre 500 et 700 km] and intermediaries [jusqu’à 20.000 km] because it is there that the activities in the space field are developing, with many constellations which are being put into orbit. »
That’s not all. “GEOTracker, as its name suggests, only did tracking, i.e. it followed the evolution of a given satellite, Helix will allow monitoring, thanks to the detection objects that we did not know about before,” explains Philippe Clar, director of the defense program at ArianeGroup. Each station will thus be divided into two, with a tracking station equipped with optics ranging from 35 cm to 50 cm in diameter, and a watch station equipped with cameras capable of pointing in different directions to have a wider view of the situation. space and detect any anomalies. Helix aims to detect all types of satellites, including microsatellites of about ten centimeters (the cubesats), and ultimately space debris as well, which will represent another security issue.
Surveillance including daytime
Another development compared to GEOTracker, Helix will allow the monitoring of space 24 hours a day, therefore including during the day. “At night, we use the light reflected on the satellites to detect them, but during the day sunlight does not allow us to observe the satellites from the ground, explains Hélène Blanchard, head of the space security program at ArianeGroup. To circumvent this, our teams have developed infrared laser technology, which sets us apart from other European players in this field. In addition, laser telemetry is a technology that makes it possible to finely determine the position of the object, of the order of ten meters. And these are lasers that are safe for individuals and safe for air traffic. »
The objective of Helix will thus be to contribute to precisely defining the spatial situation by producing a catalog of objects. “Beyond observation, what is essential is the management of the data, how it is analyzed”, insists Hélène Blanchard. Stored in data centers based in France, the data collected by the thirty stations will be analyzed by ArianeGroup teams at its site in Les Mureaux (Yvelines). That of Saint-Médard will be in charge of the development, assembly and testing of the observation stations.
The ambition to “become the European leader in the space service market”
Who will ArianeGroup’s customers be for this type of service? Defense first. “The Space Command is responsible for protecting our national interests in space,” recalls General Philippe Adam. What interests us with this new service is that we will see all the satellites circulating above us, in all orbits, and with improved processing capabilities. » Whether it is a risk of collision between two satellites, or a hostile action by a foreign satellite, it will be necessary to know how to respond quickly to any type of threat. “It is estimated that a rapprochement is worrying when two satellites are less than 40 km from each other”, explains the commander of Space, who reveals having to manage some “400 collision alert situations by week on the small fleet of satellites at our disposal”, even if in reality this only leads to “two or three satellite maneuvers per year”, he reassures.
Helix will complement the Army’s existing surveillance resources, which consist of “heritage resources such as Satam radars, the Tarot telescope or even the Monge building of the French Navy, and partnerships which may be institutional, such as with the Cnes, or international as with the United States. »
However, the Army will not be ArianeGroup’s only customer. “We also sell this service to private satellite operators who are beginning to need knowledge of the position and evolution of their satellites, and what is happening around them”, adds Philippe Clar. ArianeGroup thus aims to “become the European leader in the booming space services market. Many start-ups are also positioning themselves in this niche.