France’s Directorate General of Armament has awarded the €50M PALADIN framework agreement to Infinite Orbits to deliver a geostationary orbit inspection and monitoring service for the nation’s Space Command.
The PALADIN project is part of France’s Action et Résilience Spatiale (ARES – Space Action and Resilience) initiative, which aims to monitor and counter direct threats to the nation’s military assets in space. Specifically, PALADIN will act, along with the two YODA satellites, as a precursor to the Engin géodérivant d’intervention et de découragement (ÉGIDE – Geosynchronous drift intervention and deterrence vehicle), which the country expects to have operational by 2030.
Under the PALADIN framework agreement, Infinite Orbits will develop a dedicated spacecraft capable of delivering the geostationary orbit inspection and monitoring service that will be utilized by the country’s Commandement de l’Espace (CDE – Space Command). The spacecraft is expected to be ready for launch as early as 2027 and will be based on Infinite Orbits’ Orbit Guard offering.
Founded in 2017, Infinite Orbits is developing a range of spacecraft capable of in-orbit servicing, inspection, and life extension. The company’s 100-kilogram Orbit Guard spacecraft offers rendezvous, close-up inspection, and autonomous close-quarter manoeuvring capabilities. To date, the company has successfully launched Orbit Guard #1, a demonstrator that was carried to orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy mission in May 2023. A second spacecraft was expected to be launched in 2024, but that appeared to take a backseat to the development of the company’s Endurance satellite life-extension spacecraft.
In July 2024, the French aerospace agency CNES awarded a contract to Infinite Orbits for Orbit Guard #3, which the agency plans to utilize for the inspection of Meteosat 8, a passivated satellite built and operated by EUMETSAT.
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