TOULOUSE, France - Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France, has selected Skynopy, a French NewSpace company specializing in satellite ground station services, to enhance the ground segment supporting its very high-resolution optical imagery services from the Pléiades Neo constellation.
The collaboration is intended to improve the performance and responsiveness of Airbus’ Earth observation services by using Skynopy’s fully virtualized, software-defined ground station systems. The approach is designed to reduce data latency and increase reactivity across multiple regions, supporting growing institutional and commercial demand for faster access to very high-resolution imagery.
Pléiades Neo satellites are part of Airbus’ high-resolution optical constellation and deliver native 30-centimeter-resolution imagery for applications including defense, security, disaster management, civil engineering, environmental monitoring, and commercial services.
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By integrating Skynopy’s ground station services, Airbus aims to optimize data acquisition and downlink performance, reducing the time between image capture and data availability through its OneAtlas platform. Airbus officials say improved responsiveness is a key differentiator for customers requiring rapid access to critical Earth observation data.
Software defined
Skynopy provides a software-defined ground segment that combines centralized orchestration with virtualized modem technology, enabling faster deployment of ground stations and more flexible resource allocation. An operational test conducted earlier this year demonstrated accelerated integration timelines: new capabilities were deployed within weeks and transitioned to operational service within months, while supporting real-time data downlink with high quality of service.
"This collaboration with Airbus Defence and Space illustrates how a fully software-defined and virtualized ground segment can bring tangible performance gains for very high-resolution Earth observation services," said Antonin Hirsch, CTO and co-founder of Skynopy. "Our objective is to enable satellite operators to deploy and operate ground infrastructure faster, with greater flexibility, while delivering the levels of responsiveness and data availability expected by today’s most demanding users."
Eric Even, head of space digital at Airbus Defence and Space, said the collaboration highlights Airbus’ work with European startups to continuously enhance its Earth observation services and maintain advanced operational capabilities.
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Founded in 2023, Skynopy provides satellite connectivity services that enable operators to access spacecraft more rapidly and reliably. The company has deployed 17 operational ground sites in approximately 18 months and supports about 10 satellite operators. Skynopy is also scaling its network through the AKAR project with Eutelsat, which aims to deploy S-, X-, and Ka-band ground stations to support real-time, high-throughput connectivity for Earth observation satellites.
