Britain’s BAE Systems and the defense and space division of Europe’s
Airbus Group on on May 20 announced a strategic partnership under which the two companies will exclusively produce and sell geospatial intelligence products based on data collected from Airbus satellites.
The companies are targeting the United States government, commercial, and select international customers for the satellite data products.
Data will be provided by Airbus Defense and Space’s high resolution X-Band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellites and BAE will provide its expertise in geospatial intelligence exploitation and analysis to develop the advanced geospatial products.
“The Airbus Defense and Space Radar satellite missions are collecting data of unprecedented quality and accuracy on a global scale,” DeEtte Gray, president of BAE’s Intelligence & Security Sector, said in a statement. “The products we are teaming to develop represent a major leap forward in SAR-based products and services that enhance various sophisticated applications.”
The companies said the geospatial products that result from the alliance will be used to enhance mission planning for defense customers, support flight systems, improve emergency response, and help the global energy sector plan new power grids, plot pipelines, and manage resources.