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Astroscale France and HEMERIA join forces to develop sovereign GEO capability for global markets. 7 hours ago Astroscale France and HEMERIA have announced plans to establish a strategic partnership to develop and export a French microsatellite solution for operations in geostationary orbit (GEO). The planned collaboration will combine the companies' complementary expertise to address growing international demand for agile and capable GEO solutions across defence, sovereign and dual-use markets. HEMERIA will provide its proven experience in the design and manufacture of agile satellite platforms for demanding defence and institutional missions, including heritage from the YODA programme. Astroscale France will contribute its advanced, flight-proven RPO expertise and associated payload capabilities. By combining an established platform with proven RPO technology, the companies aim to offer customers a faster and more cost-effective route to operational GEO capability than traditional large-scale programmes. The solution is being designed around an agile mission architecture, with the ambition to reduce development timelines, programme risk and cost while retaining the advanced manoeuvring and close-proximity capabilities required for demanding defence missions. Rather than requiring investment running into hundreds of millions of euros, the approach is intended to make advanced sovereign GEO capability achievable on a significantly more accessible cost and delivery profile. From awareness to action in GEO At approximately 36,000 kilometres above Earth, GEO is home to some of the world's most critical infrastructure, including strategic communications, weather services and national security capabilities. As GEO becomes increasingly strategic and contested, governments and defence operators need more than visibility. They need the capability to understand activity around critical space assets and, where required, inspect and characterise objects at close range to inform operational decisions. Advances in observation and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) are providing an increasingly detailed picture of the GEO environment, but ground-based monitoring has limitations. Understanding the nature, behaviour or condition of an object can require a closer look. RPO provides that next layer of capability. By enabling a spacecraft to safely approach, maneuver around and inspect another object, RPO can provide detailed close-range information that cannot be obtained through ground-based monitoring alone, turning awareness into actionable intelligence. The Astroscale France and HEMERIA partnership is designed to deliver this operational capability through a lightweight, agile and responsive GEO solution developed for the evolving requirements of defence, sovereign and dual-use customers. Astroscale has demonstrated complex RPO in orbit across multiple missions, including ADRAS-J, which successfully approached and characterised a large piece of unprepared orbital debris. Astroscale France is building on that global flight heritage in Toulouse, developing sovereign French and European expertise in RPO and on-orbit servicing. HEMERIA brings decades of experience developing space systems for institutional, commercial and defence customers, supported by established industrial and cleanroom facilities in France. Its work on the YODA programme provides relevant heritage in agile satellite capabilities for operations in GEO. Under the partnership, each company will focus on its core expertise, with HEMERIA providing the satellite platform and Astroscale France contributing the RPO payload and associated capabilities. This complementary model is intended to accelerate development, reduce programme risk and provide customers with a credible route to operational GEO capability. A French capability with global ambitions Philippe Blatt, President and Managing Director of Astroscale France, said: "Geostationary orbit supports infrastructure that is fundamental to its economies, security and everyday lives. As the environment becomes more strategic and complex, visibility alone is not enough. Governments and defence operators increasingly need the ability to understand, inspect and characterise activity around their critical space assets. "By combining HEMERIA's platform and defence heritage with Astroscale's flight-proven RPO expertise and the sovereign capabilities we are developing here in France, we have an opportunity to deliver a high-performance, agile solution that can be deployed faster and more cost-effectively for France and its international partners." Nicolas Multan, Chairman of HEMERIA, said: "GEO is becoming an increasingly strategic and contested environment, creating an urgent need for sovereign, agile and operational capabilities. "This partnership combines two highly complementary areas of expertise: HEMERIA's proven experience in defence satellite platforms, notably through the YODA programme, and Astroscale's flight-proven expertise in rendezvous and proximity operations. "Together, we have the industrial credibility and technological maturity to deliver a realistic and competitive solution for France and allied nations. Our shared ambition is to build in France a sovereign GEO capability designed from the outset for operational deployment and international markets."

Astroscale France and HEMERIA partner on agile GEO rendezvous and proximity operations platform. September 15, 2026 On Sept. 15, 2026, Astroscale France and French space systems manufacturer HEMERIA announced a strategic partnership to develop and export a French microsatellite platform designed for operations in geostationary orbit (GEO). The joint initiative combines HEMERIA's defense satellite bus manufacturing capabilities with Astroscale France's rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) and inspection payload technologies. Platform Architecture and Technical Heritage The collaborative microsatellite architecture is engineered to provide close-range object characterization, inspection, and space domain awareness (SDA) capabilities at an orbital altitude of approximately 36,000 kilometers. By pairing an established small-satellite bus with dedicated RPO software and sensor packages, the partnership aims to lower procurement costs and shorten development cycles compared to legacy, heavy-class GEO defense platforms. * Satellite Bus: HEMERIA agile defense platform derived from France's YODA (Yeux Orbitaux pour la Détection Active) satellite program * Payload Package: Astroscale France flight-proven RPO vision systems, sensors, and close-proximity maneuvering algorithms * Target Domain: Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km altitude) inspection and characterization * Primary Heritage: Astroscale's ADRAS-J mission, which completed close approach and visual inspection of an uncooperative rocket body in Low Earth Orbit Strategic Rationale for Sovereign GEO Defense Geostationary orbit contains critical defense communications, early-warning, and national security space assets. Because ground-based radar and optical monitoring networks have physical resolution limits at 36,000 kilometers, sovereign defense operators require in-orbit inspection capabilities to evaluate object behavior, inspect physical anomalies, and verify satellite operational health in real time. Executive Commentary "Geostationary orbit supports infrastructure that is fundamental to our economies, security and everyday lives," said Philippe Blatt, President and Managing Director of Astroscale France. "By combining HEMERIA's platform and defence heritage with Astroscale's flight-proven RPO expertise and the sovereign capabilities we are developing here in France, we have an opportunity to deliver a high-performance, agile solution that can be deployed faster and more cost-effectively for France and its international partners." "GEO is becoming an increasingly strategic and contested environment, creating an urgent need for sovereign, agile and operational capabilities," added Nicolas Multan, Chairman of HEMERIA. "Together, we have the industrial credibility and technological maturity to deliver a realistic and competitive solution for France and allied nations." Market Deployment Outlook Astroscale France and HEMERIA will focus initial engineering alignment on integrating RPO software packages into HEMERIA's Toulouse cleanroom assembly facilities. The dual-use platform will be offered to the French Space Command, European defense agencies, and allied international nations seeking sovereign orbital inspection hardware.

Space around Earth is growing dangerously congested with defunct satellites and debris, prompting companies like Astroscale and ClearSpace to develop removal technologies they believe could become a major industry. The problem is accelerating — even without new launches, debris would continue multiplying as objects fragment faster than they naturally re-enter the atmosphere, according to the European Space Agency's Tim Flohrer. This forces active satellites to perform increasing collision-avoidance manoeuvres. Tokyo-listed Astroscale has demonstrated magnetic docking technology and reported 142% revenue growth last year, though it remains unprofitable and relies heavily on government grants. ClearSpace raised €26 million in 2023 for its debris-capture satellite. Both firms see broader opportunities in satellite servicing, repair and life extension. However, the market remains nascent and government-backed. Industry leaders argue that regulation requiring satellite decommissioning would create commercial demand for their services.