Helios II

© EADS Astrium

Helios II is the second generation of the European military optical reconnaissance system. A French–Belgian–Spanish partnership programme, the Helios II system, comprising two optical satellites and a user ground segment developed under EADS Astrium prime contractorship, provides a number of key enhancements including higher resolution, infra-red imaging capability for night detection and shorter revisit cycles. The new ground user segment entered service in 2003, and the first new-generation satellite, Helios IIA, was launched by Ariane 5 on 18 December 2004. The system also processes data from the still-operational Helios IA satellite.

Helios II marks not only a considerable advance in Europe’s ability to obtain military space observation data, but also a new dimension for European defence. As a result of innovative bilateral international agreements (France–Germany, France–Italy), data access rights will be exchanged between the Helios II optical system and the German SAR-Lupe and Italian Cosmo-Skymed radar systems.