French armaments directorate (DGA) has awarded a contract worth € 28 million for the design, development, installation and operational maintenance of the PHAROS system. From 2009 on, PHAROS (Portail Hôte d’Accès au Renseignement de l’Observation Spatiale) will enable the forces based in mainland France or deployed in theatres of operation abroad to have common access to the images acquired by the HELIOS (France), COSMO-SkyMed (Italy) and SAR-Lupe (Germany) military satellites and by Pléiades, the future French dual satellite system.

The project will be implemented jointly by teams specialized in Intelligence Systems within EADS Defence and Communications Systems (prime contractor), and ASTRIUM Satellites Ground Systems (joint leading contractor), who will also rely on the expertise of three subcontractors: CAP GEMINI, PIXELION and GAEL Consultant.

The technical solution proposed by the industrial grouping and accepted by the DGA is based on a services-oriented architecture and involves the use of innovative technologies deriving from both the civil sphere (virtualisation, image compression) and the military sphere (digitisation).