Editor’s Note

The changing nature of warfare, rising conflicts and the never-ending great-power competition has given rise to complex geometries in global geopolitical positioning. The world's future is filled with eternal uncertainty. The advances in technology such as quantum computing. artificial intelligence and digital surveillance have transformed the military worldwide. As a driving force, technology has embedded itself in the power showbiz and has initiated an unprecedented competition between global powers including the emerging middle power. Acquiring innovative power, capacity to invent and adapting fast to new technologies is now a key determinant for all involved in the ongoing power game in the emerging new world order.

Raksha Anirveda’s latest web feature attempts to evaluate and understand the impact of technology in reshaping India's power aspiration through its Indian Armed Forces’ modernisation programme. The featured articles have been diligently curated. These articles analyse Indian Armed Forces’ adoption of innovation and technology. procurement of critical technology to become Aatmanirbhar, adaptability to disruptive and emerging technologies, and its digitisation efforts to emerge as a strong future-ready force. Raksha Anirveda invites esteemed readers - the driving force behind its evolving benchmark to indulge, explore and evaluate the feature presentation. Happy Reading!

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First Pléiades Neo Constellation Satellite Safely Delivered in Orbit

Start of a new era for Airbus and geospatial applications

Editor Space
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Toulouse.  The first satellite of the Pléiades Neo constellation was safely delivered in orbit by Arianespace’s European launcher Vega, from French Guiana last night.

First telemetry signals were received this morning and the solar arrays are deployed. The early orbit phase activities have started, commanded from Airbus control centre in Toulouse, to prepare acquisition of first image next week. In-orbit calibration phase will follow before opening commercial service.

Entirely funded, designed, manufactured, owned and operated by Airbus, Pléiades Neo will provide commercial and institutional customers with high-level insights for the next decade. Each satellite will add half a million km² per day at 30cm native resolution. The images will be easily accessible on Airbus’ OneAtlas digital platform, allowing customers immediate access to both freshly acquired and archive data, as well as extensive analytics.

 
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Comprising four identical satellites, the Pléiades Neo constellation will work hand in hand with the existing Pléiades satellites and the rest of the dozen-strong Airbus Earth observation satellite fleet. The highly compact Pléiades Neo spacecraft have a light weight, next generation silicon carbide optical instrument, building on the technology that Airbus first pioneered in the early 2000s. They also have inter-satellite links with SpaceDataHighway (EDRS) geostationary satellites to enable urgent acquisitions 30 to 40 minutes following the tasking request to swiftly respond to the most critical situations.

“The launch of this first Pléiades Neo satellite will pave the way to new services and great opportunities for our customers, thanks to its high accuracy and increased reactivity. The Pléiades Neo constellation will definitively boost the 30cm imagery market, bringing a lot of innovation and coverage capacity to the commercial and governmental end-users,“ said François Lombard, Head of Intelligence at Airbus Defence and Space.

The satellite will soon be joined by its twin, Pléiades Neo 4, already in Kourou and ready for launch this summer, also on a Vega rocket.