Airbus announced that its first Pléiades Neo Next satellite is scheduled for launch in early 2028 from the European Spaceport located in Kourou, French Guiana. The mission will use Avio’s Vega C rocket to send the satellite into orbit.
The Pléiades Neo Next programme is designed to enhance Airbus’s Earth Observation services. This initiative introduces new satellites with improved capabilities, including a native resolution of 20 centimeters. According to Eric Even, Head of Space Digital at Airbus Defence and Space, “The Pléiades Neo Next programme builds on the success of our existing Pléiades Neo constellation which serves government and commercial customers around the world. This programme will further enhance our standard of excellence in terms of quality, performance, and reliability to deliver images as well as geo-intelligence services and applications.”
Airbus Defence and Space is funding, manufacturing, and operating the entire Pléiades Neo Next project. The company aims to provide imaging services for sectors such as defense, intelligence, agriculture, environmental monitoring, maritime operations, disaster response, mapping, location-based services, civil engineering, urban planning, and utilities.
Users will have the ability to task Airbus satellites shortly before they pass over their area of interest. Collected images can be accessed quickly through customer Direct Receiving Stations or via the OneAtlas digital platform. This capability supports time-sensitive missions by enabling rapid image delivery.
When combined with current Pléiades Neo satellites, the new system will increase revisit rates over any point on Earth—up to several times per day—and offer improved spatial resolution and geolocation accuracy. Upgrades associated with Pléiades Neo Next are also expected to improve ground systems and platforms like OneAtlas by increasing imagery request capacity and reducing turnaround times from request to image reception.
Airbus continues developing its optical and radar satellite fleets while exploring additional technologies such as stratospheric platforms for further expanding its observation offerings.
