The French Procurement Agency (DGA) has awarded EADS Astrium a contract for the design and production of a space based optical early warning system demonstrator. The SPIRALE (Syst¿me Pr¿paratoire Infra-Rouge pour l’Alerte) program, worth 124 million euros, involves the supply and operation of a ballistic missile early warning demonstrator system.
It will gather and analyze infrared images of terrestrial backgrounds to detect ballistic missiles during their powered phase, just after launch. EADS Astrium has chosen Alcatel Space, to build two demonstration satellites.
Alcatel Space will be the prime contractor for the space segment, comprised of two 120-kg class microsatellites in elliptical orbit.
They will be launched in 2008 by an Ariane 5 rocket. A first in Europe, this demonstration program is designed to pave the way for a future spaceborne early warning system using optical sensors.
This system would be key to an anti-ballistic missile defense system, as well as contributing to other missions, such as monitoring of weapon proliferation, for the French defense procurement agency DGA.
