Telespazio’s Fucino Space Center. Photo: Telespazio

[Via Satellite 06-10-2016] Telespazio France has selected exactEarth to supply satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) services to the French Navy. Earlier this week the French Navy awarded the four-year Trimaran 2 contract covering the provision of a satellite-based maritime surveillance service to a consortium of Airbus Defence and Space and Telespazio France. As part of the project, exactEarth will provide a satellite AIS data feed of the French economic exclusion zone, which encompasses 11 million square kilometers, to Telespazio France, who will provide a viewing capability to several users in the French Navy.

Trimaran 2 is a follow-up to Trimaran 1, which enables maritime zone commanders to access a portal for surveillance services using optical and radar imaging and AIS data to enhance the effectiveness of their national maritime missions. France has the second largest economic exclusion zone in the world behind the United States. This contract, which runs from 2016 to 2020, will improve the effectiveness of the Navy’s missions: whether combating trafficking, preventing illegal immigration, performing search and rescue operations at sea, detecting pollution and toxic discharges, or monitoring protected maritime areas.