Hydrosat announces new MWIR programme for intelligence missions

Hydrosat has unveiled its high-resolution mid-wave infrared (MWIR) program named Nyktòs that is set to deliver high-resolution thermal imaging for tactical ISR. The day-and-night imaging capability can be tasked by customers and is complementary to the wide-area monitoring provided by Hydrosat’s Osiris constellation. The development of the new capability will be supported by Hydrosat’s expanded technology and manufacturing footprint in Europe and is intended for sovereign mission applications for NATO and allied customers. As part of the expansion, Hydrosat will open additional facilities, grow its network of European supply chain partners and advance the development of high-resolution mid-wave infrared technology in the region. Together, these investments will strengthen the company’s ability to support sovereign government and allied missions across national security, critical infrastructure and crisis response. Hydrosat’s European expansion is designed to meet this growing demand by establishing the regional presence, technology base and supply chain relationships needed to develop and sustain novel sovereign thermal capabilities in Europe. These capabilities can be tailored to national requirements and complemented by coverage from the company’s commercial constellations, giving governments greater control over capabilities central to their priorities while providing access to additional observation opportunities and broader regional context. “Europe’s investment in space is an investment in its ability to protect its interests and make independent decisions. We are committed to helping turn that ambition into capability,” said Pieter Fossel, Co-founder and CEO of Hydrosat. “By expanding our presence and investing in technology development here in Europe, we are strengthening the industrial foundation for sovereign space missions-and for Europe to act with confidence alongside its allies.” Central to the expansion is the development of high-resolution mid-wave infrared, or MWIR, technology in Europe. The new capability will complement the longwave infrared, or LWIR, technology planned for Hydrosat’s Osiris constellation. Osiris is designed to deliver broad-area thermal monitoring across a 340-kilometer swath, enabling users to identify temperature changes and understand the wider conditions surrounding an event. Hydrosat’s Nyktòs MWIR capability will allow customers to address smaller thermal features in far greater detail. Together, these technologies connect broad-area thermal monitoring with higher-resolution thermal tasking. Osiris can identify unusual activity across a region and cue high-resolution thermal observations from Nyktòs for closer analysis. Combined with historical, optical, and radar data, this coordinated tipping-and-cueing approach can help governments determine where significant activity is occurring, investigate it more precisely, and monitor changes over time. It can also help emergency services prioritize areas for assessment, infrastructure operators identify facilities requiring attention and security analysts distinguish relevant activity from the surrounding thermal environment. “Finding and understanding activity on the ground requires both monitoring of wider areas and the ability to examine specific locations in detail,” said Scott Soenen, Chief Technology Officer at Hydrosat. “Broad-area thermal monitoring provides the context to identify changes, while high-resolution MWIR allows us to investigate those changes more closely. Our vision is to bring these complementary capabilities into a coherent thermal observation system, helping governments and commercial customers understand what is changing, where it is happening and how it fits into the broader picture.” For sovereign missions, Hydrosat will be able to configure the balance between national and commercial capabilities around each customer’s requirements. A dedicated mission could provide tailored arrangements for tasking, control, security and data access, while Hydrosat’s commercial constellation capacity could increase observation opportunities, expand surrounding coverage and support continued monitoring as events develop. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at [email protected]