Neuraspace, a Portuguese-headquartered leading provider of space domain awareness (SDA) solutions, has increased its investment in and renewed commitment to defending against threats to space assets, the company announced on 6 October.
The launch of Neuraspace DEF moves available solutions beyond the passive towards active and autonomous control, enabling states to strengthen resilience and provide swift responses to the growing range of risks and threats facing space assets – many of which directly affect critical infrastructure on Earth. These risks and threats include jamming and spoofing of communications and navigation, cyberattacks on satellites and control stations, collisions with space debris, anti-satellite weapons (ASAT), orbital espionage and potentially intrusive orbital technologies.
Neuraspace DEF combines artificial intelligence, integrated sensors (both terrestrial and space) and data analysis automation. It allows:
- Real-time detection and analysis of non-cooperative objects, including suspicious approaches or unexpected manoeuvres by satellites;
- High-precision tracking of national and allied space assets to strengthen critical infrastructure protection;
- Automatic alerts when unauthorized objects enter sensitive zones or overfly strategic regions;
- Provision of actionable data for tactical and operational decision-making in military contexts;
- Continuous and predictive monitoring of the space environment to anticipate risks before they escalate.
“With Neuraspace DEF, we aim to combine innovation and operational excellence to provide Europe with trusted capabilities that contribute to resilience, civil protection, and peacekeeping. Our mission is to be the reference European platform for autonomous space operations,” comments Neuraspace CEO, Chiara Manfletti. “As space becomes ever more central to both security and daily life, the demand for advanced SDA solutions grows. Meeting this challenge requires operations that are more effective and also increasingly autonomous, to ensure safety and stability and for peacekeeping in and from orbit.”
Neuraspace already collaborates with the Portuguese Air Force and provides its core SDA competence as the Portuguese national coordinator for EMISSARY, the EU’s largest investment in space situational awareness (SSA).
DA Comment
We have talked about space becoming the sixth dimension of warfare for decades, but hitherto have focused efforts on the theoretical defence of pace rather than the pragmatic. Anti-satellite weapons, directed energy weapons and more manoeuvrable satellites have all been developed, but the majority of surveillance and monitoring assets deployed face Earth rather than the space domain itself. So using AI and cutting-edge sensor fusion technologies to improve SDA and SSA is a worthy cause. Anything that will ensure operational continuity of orbiting spacecraft, enable evasive manoeuvres to be implemented autonomously, improve resilience against electronic attack and avoid collision has to be worth the investment. Companies like Neuraspace rising to the challenge is proof positive that Europe has at least set foot on the right path: long may that situation endure. Space is, if not the final frontier, at least one that is as important to safeguard as lines drawn on a map.
Image: Chiara Manfletti, Neuraspace CEO, discussing the features of the new DEF solution. (Neuraspace)
