Helsing and Kongsberg working on ‘large two-digit number of satellites' for ISR/T constellation

Image of YAM-6 onboard the Transporter-10 featured in Loft's social media post on X on 4 March 2024. (SpaceX)

German company Helsing and Norway's Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace are working on a space-based intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (ISR/T) constellation, which will include “a large two-digit number of satellites” for Europe by 2029, a Helsing representative confirmed to Janes on 16 December.

The exact number of satellites will “depend on final sensor mix”, according to the representative. Work on the space-based capability is self-funded and will address the needs of German and European armed forces.

Helsing will be contributing various software products, which haven't been publicly disclosed yet, according to the representative. “Helsing software will analyse data across all sensor modalities including SAR [synthetic aperture radar], EO [electro-optic], hyperspectral, and RF [radio frequency] both onboard and off board,” they said.

According to Helsing's 10 December press release, the company's “AI [artificial intelligence]-driven software capabilities” will fuse data from those different sensors to provide satellite image analysis. The company also says it has proven onboard AI algorithms that have been deployed in orbit. “Various tests of onboard use of AI have been conducted on the Loft Orbital YAM-6 [Yet Another Mission-6] satellite platform in 2024. The AI software is still in use in orbit,” the Helsing representative confirmed.