Several EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries operate high-end Space-based ISR (SBISR) systems, either as national assets or under specific transnational cooperation agreements. These systems use a wide variety of traditional spaceborne sensors and have provided EU defence with an extensive experience on the use of SBSIR. Many EU Member States and EDF Associated Countries, which do not have direct access to a SBISR system, receive space imagery through commercial providers or transnational cooperation.

As the existing systems are operated independently and are made of a low number of high-end space assets, their revisit, persistency, reactivity, and data diversity are limited. Similarly, support at tactical level is only possible with nationally operated assets because current transnational data sharing time response is not meeting the requirements for tactical support.

Proposals must address the development of European SBISR capabilities through the three pillars mentioned above. Proposals must cover the development of the overall system (i.e., space and ground segment), including in particular:

At system level:

• The deepening of the concept of operations (CONOPS) for such capability, including the functionality and security of the Federation Layer.
• The advanced design of the overall system architecture (including selection of orbits, and sensors, possible inter-satellite links (ISL), possible data relay satellites, ground stations, raw data management and processing) and the definition of each component of the end-to-end system, composed of the satellite platform(s), the ISR payloads and the ground segment(s).
• The detailed definition of minimum-security common requirements and associated impact on the design of technical solutions and on the costs.
• The development plan(s) for the new constellation; de-risking activities and technological roadmaps must consider various options for each component of the system based on existing solutions, adapted solutions and/or new developments. Different development stages must be considered for the proposal, depending on the current maturity level for each component or ISR payload. Synergies with industrial technology roadmaps and with national, multinational and EU programmes, studies and projects (e.g., European Defence Industrial Development Programme, European Defence Agency, EU space programme/secure connectivity or earth observation governmental service) should also be analysed.
• The development plan(s) for the use of existing and planned systems that can contribute to or complement the constellation, including to what extent they can contribute to an early start of the European capability compared to the plan for the launch of the small new satellites.
• The cost and cost benefit analysis – including launch costs and estimate of the overall operation and maintenance costs. Where design options are being identified (e.g., number of satellites for each constellation component, number of ground stations, functions offered by the user ground segment) the cost benefit analysis must allow to compare the proposed options.

At space segment level:

• The development up to TRL6 for selected payloads, with the identification of suitable existing or upcoming satellite platforms, available in the EU, to host them; the proposals must clearly identify for each type of payloads mentioned above, the starting point and expected ending point in terms of TRL, and the target satellite platforms for these payloads.
• Only if duly justified in the proposal, the planning, implementation and in-orbit demonstration and validation of some payloads or technologies. The justification expected in the proposal should justify the risk of launching the production of a first batch of satellites without in-orbit demonstration (IOD) and given this risk the relevance of the proposed IOD from a cost and planning perspective. The requested EU contribution for the proposal must not cover the associated launch(s) and deployment costs (that should therefore be financed by the owners of the prototype(s)).
• The planning of the implementation (i.e., prototyping) and launch of a first batch (typically covering a single orbital plane) of satellites able to demonstrate the validity of the architectural solutions defined, to test the constellation management and to deliver an initial federated ISR capability. The requested EU contribution for the proposal must not cover the associated launch(s) and deployment costs (that should therefore be financed by the owners of the prototype(s)).

At ground segment level:

• The consolidation of the performance of each control and mission ground segments to be used for each type of satellite of the system, and of the associated operational costs.
• The detailed design and the development of interoperable ground segments’ prototypes (in terms of main control and planning functions) for multi-mission applications able to be federated through the Federation Layer.
• The development of a Federation Layer prototype (minimum TRL 6) able to offer multi-mission tools and handle harmonised and anonymised requests for data acquisition, data processing and data dissemination, quota countering for each user, on each component of the ISR constellation or for the constellation as a whole).
• The testing of the Federation Layer prototype using abovementioned satellite sensor prototypes and/or other available and relevant sources (e.g., commercial or national space components).