Since the launch of Helios-1A in 1995, the Helios system has become a key element of intelligence gathering and military operations. In addition to data supplied by land, air and naval systems, imagery from the two satellites currently in orbit—Helios-1A and Helios-2A—provides permanent global coverage.

This imagery is used for intelligence (to monitor activity at a site), mission planning (targeting and pre-strike simulations) or post-strike damage assessment. It also serves to compile maps of uncharted areas and to generate digital elevation models used to guide cruise missiles.

The Helios-2B satellite—an identical twin of Helios-2A—is set launch on 9 December atop an Ariane 5 GS booster. Its payload includes the HRZ instrument, capable of day/night viewing with a resolution better than 2.5 metres. At the heart of the Helios system, CNES is a key partner of the French Ministry of Defence and DGA*, the French defence procurement agency. Positioning and position keeping of Helios-2B on its Sun-synchronous orbit will be conducted from CNES’s Toulouse Space Centre. With 3 satellites now in orbit, Helios will deliver more imagery, more quickly, to the 6 partner nations: France, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain.

* Direction Générale de l'Armement