AMOS wins ONERA contract to build French space-surveillance telescope
AMOS · ONERA
Belgium's AMOS will build PROVIDENCE, a 2.5-metre telescope giving France's Air and Space Force LEO object-tracking down to 10 cm.
what happened
French aerospace research agency ONERA announced July 22 that it selected Belgian company AMOS to design, build, and deliver PROVIDENCE, a 2.5-metre ground-based telescope for space surveillance, per European Spaceflight and Zone Militaire. The telescope will be sited at the Haute-Provence Observatory and is expected to enter service in early 2029, giving the French Air and Space Force the ability to identify and track satellites in low Earth orbit at a resolution of 10 centimetres from 500 kilometres, a capability ONERA describes as unique in Europe. Zone Militaire reported the project carries EUR 8.6 million in funding from Region Sud's FEDER program plus support from ONERA and France's DGA defense procurement agency.
why it matters
PROVIDENCE adds a second French sovereign space-surveillance sensor alongside ONERA's GRAVES radar, which Zone Militaire reported will itself be replaced by a new AURORE radar from Thales. For AMOS, it is a reference win in the European government space-domain-awareness market at a time when European institutions are increasing spending on space-tracking infrastructure independent of US systems.
for who
European space-situational-awareness vendors, ground-segment optics suppliers
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- AMOS, ONERA
- Category
- procurement
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-07-22
- Published
- 2026-07-23 05:32 UTC