Space & Satellites defence companies in France

Hemeria develops tactical mission systems spanning space, ocean and constrained environments, including satellite platforms and strategic systems for defence customers.

Develops laser light-shaping technology for optical ground stations, free-space laser communications and directed energy weapons for space and defence markets.

Exosens develops amplification, detection and imaging technologies for defence, night vision, surveillance, nuclear, scientific and industrial applications.

Electric propulsion systems, the spacevan orbital transfer vehicle and ExoOPS mission-design software for satellite operators. Delivered a bespoke version of ExoOPS to the French Space Command under a contract with the Defence Innovation Agency.

Builds drag sails and solar sails for satellite deorbiting and deep space propulsion.

Designs, owns and operates spacecraft to provide inspection, life extension and end-of-life services for geostationary satellites, using autonomous vision-based navigation technology.

Orbit Guard

A fleet of commercial SmallSats operating in geostationary orbit, designed for in-situ space situational awareness and active inspection of GEO assets. Orbit Guard #1 is already in orbit and is the first commercial SmallSat operating at GEO altitude. The spacecraft use Infinite Orbits' Rendezvous technology to conduct close-up inspections and autonomous maneuvers around customer satellites.

Endurance

A life-extension servicer for geostationary satellites. Endurance docks with a customer satellite that is running low on fuel and provides propulsion to extend its operational life, allowing operators to delay costly replacement missions. The vehicle is compatible with more than 70% of GEO assets currently in orbit, with its first mission planned from 2027.

GEORyder

A green reusable kickstage vehicle derived from the Endurance programme. GEORyder is designed to transfer small satellites from geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) to geostationary orbit (GEO), offering a cost-effective last-mile delivery option for satellite operators targeting GEO slots.

Rendezvous Solution

The patented autonomous navigation software that underpins all Infinite Orbits spacecraft. It integrates far-range, near-range and docking capabilities with embedded AI and vision-based sensors, enabling real-time autonomous decision-making without constant ground intervention. The system uses a self-learning neural network that improves with each mission.

Reusable micro-launcher for European sovereign access to space, developing Maia rocket. ArianeGroup subsidiary.

Maia Launcher

A 50-metre, two-stage mini-launcher available in reusable (500 kg to SSO) and expendable (1,500 kg to SSO) versions, powered by four Prometheus bio-methane/LOX engines with a 3.5-metre fairing and up to 4-tonne capacity to inclined orbits.

Maia Reusable First Stage

Europe's first reusable rocket first stage designed for vertical landing on an autonomous barge at sea, selected by ESA's BEST! initiative alongside Isar Aerospace to develop future European reusable space transportation.

Colibri Kick-Stage

An optional upper kick-stage with a cluster of engines that increases mission flexibility for multi-orbit deployment and constellation replenishment -- successfully completed dual-engine hot-fire testing and environmental qualification at Thales Alenia Space facilities in 2025.

Syntony GNSS develops positioning, navigation and timing technologies, including GNSS simulation, reception and coverage-extension systems for aerospace and constrained environments.

French space propulsion company developing iodine and water-based in-orbit mobility systems for satellite constellations, orbital manoeuvring and sustainable space operations.

CILAS develops laser and optics systems for armed forces, including missile-guidance lasers, anti-drone systems and optical coatings for defence and space applications.

Builds a dedicated launch vehicle for small satellites, along with the 3D-printed Navier rocket engines that power it.

Latitude Launcher

A two-stage rocket standing 19 metres tall that carries payloads of up to 300 kg to low Earth orbit, aimed at operators who want a dedicated flight rather than a rideshare slot. Seven Navier engines power the first stage, while the second stage uses a vacuum-optimised Navier plus an auxiliary propulsion system that circularises the orbit and later deorbits the vehicle. Latitude designs, builds and tests it in France and is targeting one launch per week once operations ramp up. The rocket was called Zephyr until early 2026, when the company dropped the name.

Navier

A LOX/RP-1 rocket engine designed in-house and manufactured by 3D printing, driving both stages of Latitude's launcher. The company develops its own turbomachinery for it, which it says lets it optimise performance and adapt the engine to a range of small satellite missions. Navier prototypes have been hot-fired at Latitude's Titan test site south of Reims and at SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland.

Operates a LEO satellite constellation that detects radio frequency signals from ships at sea, tracking dark vessels that disable AIS transponders to avoid detection.

Look Up Space develops space surveillance and space domain awareness systems for detecting, tracking, analysing and protecting satellites and orbital infrastructure.

Detect and Track

Space surveillance capability for detecting and tracking orbital objects and events.

Radar

Radar technology for collecting orbital surveillance data as part of the Look Up Space architecture.

Builds cloud-native software for satellite command-and-control, pass orchestration and ground station monitoring.

Smallsat constellation manufacturer providing sovereign communications and earth observation platforms for defence and government.

Engineering group building simulation and training systems, embedded deep-learning software and space situational awareness tools for defence. Customers include the French Ministry of Defence, NATO, MBDA, Naval Group, Thales and Airbus Defence & Space.

Builds space surveillance and situational awareness services that track satellites, catalogue debris and prevent in-orbit collisions for satellite operators and government space agencies.

MTOS 500mm Station

An array of four 500mm f/1.5 telescopes that work in synchronised rotation to detect objects as small as 7 cm across all orbits from 300 km to 40,000 km altitude, detecting up to 15,000 space objects per station in a two-week period.

CALM & COLA

A collision risk management service covering both the launch phase and on-orbit operations. CALM & COLA assesses conjunction risks, calculates avoidance manoeuvre options and provides actionable recommendations to reduce the probability of in-orbit collisions, integrating with operators' existing flight dynamics software via API.

RAMSES

A 12 million euro programme with ONERA to deploy five multispectral stations globally, combining visible and near-infrared sensors for day and night tracking across all orbits. Supported by France 2030, RAMSES extends Aldoria's surveillance coverage to objects previously undetectable in daylight or twilight conditions.

Anywaves builds space antennas, RF payload electronics and software-defined radio products for satellites, launchers and mission-critical spacecraft communications.

VILSA Software Defined Radio

Software-defined radio product line for flexible, high-performance signal processing in space RF systems and payload communications.

GNSS All-Bands Antenna with LNA Integrated Board

Navigation antenna supporting multi-constellation GNSS reception with integrated low-noise electronics for compact spacecraft platforms.

Ka-band TT&C Antenna

Telemetry, tracking and command antenna designed for robust spacecraft connectivity across demanding mission phases.

VILSA XDL X-Band Downlink Transmitter

X-band downlink transmitter for high-speed satellite payload data transmission between onboard systems and ground stations.

Greenerwave develops smart reconfigurable RF materials and satellite communication terminals for sovereign connectivity, detection and defence communications use cases.

Prométhée Earth Intelligence develops sovereign Earth-observation satellite services for security, maritime awareness and strategic monitoring missions.

SilMach develops hybrid MEMS components and energy-free sensing technologies used in aerospace, defence and other critical embedded systems.

Ground-station-as-a-service network for satellite operators, combining timeshared antennas with its own stations and virtualised modems. Works with CNES, ESA and NASA, and ran the SkyFortress experiment with France's Defence Innovation Agency.

Direct-to-device satellite communications startup developing Golden Modulation technology for ultra-long-range, GNSS-free resilient connectivity. Partnered with Eutelsat, exhibited at Eurosatory 2024, and selected for French Tech 2030 by the Agence de l'Innovation de Défense.

Turgis Gaillard develops defence and aerospace systems including the AAROK MALE drone, mission support capabilities and industrial services for armed forces.