The benefits of sensing and communicating using Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems are leading to a proliferation of equipment, including single systems, clusters of devices, and constellations of hundreds or thousands of satellites. From mid-November, BAE Systems Digital Intelligence will also enter LEO with their Azalea multi-sensor clusters, covering both civilian and military uses for the UK, Australia and other customers.
Combining three Radio Frequency (RF) sensing satellites with a fourth satellite hosting a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensor, the satellites operate in formation using RF to detect and geolocate signals while the SAR provides high resolution imagery of the surface. The three RF sensing satellites have been developed by BAE Systems following its 2021 acquisition of In-Space Missions, while the SAR satellite is supplied by ICEYE from Finland.
The clusters include significant t onboard computing capability to allow them to perform data processing in orbit, thereby reducing the amount of information required to be downloaded to ground stations for end users. They also feature an open architecture based around software-defined radios and support remote functionality updates via software uploads.
The intended roles for the clusters include dark shipping detection, submarine detection, protecting fisheries and land or maritime search and rescue, all of which have potential for Australian customers.
“As Australia is one of BAE Systems' home countries and one of our priority markets, we are always in conversations with our partners here in Australia regarding developing this capability as a constellation or feeding into other constellations,” Fergus Miller, BAE Systems Digital Intelligence’s head of international business development said. “Because it is an open architecture, it's particularly designed for multinational use and inclusion with technologies from other organisations.”
The first cluster is scheduled to launch in mid-November and will communicate with BAE Systems’ existing ground-based infrastructure, with the intention being to expand into multiple clusters having the potential to include additional sensors in future versions, such as electro-optical to multi-spectral systems.
“At BAE Systems we have capability from seabed to space, and ingest data from all domains to create insights, delivering better, richer intelligence to the end user,” Miller said.