CNES has awarded a contract to a consortium led by Loft Orbital to develop a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery demonstrator, a project designed to strengthen France’s sovereign radar imaging capabilities and establish a national radar imaging value chain, the companies said.
The project, known as DESIR (Démonstrateur des Éléments Souverains en Imagerie Radar), is being led by CNES on behalf of Direction générale de l’armement (DGA). The initiative was announced on Jan. 22 by Loft Orbital and consortium partner Thales Alenia Space.
Under the contract, Loft Orbital will act as prime contractor, responsible for the satellite platform and the ground control segment. Thales Alenia Space France will develop the SAR payload and the user ground segment, working alongside TEKEVER France, which will design and produce the active antenna integrated into the radar imager.
SAR Earth observation systems are valued for their ability to collect high-resolution imagery day and night and in all weather conditions, including through cloud cover. Such capabilities make SAR a critical tool for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), as well as for civil applications such as environmental monitoring and disaster response.
Although the announcements this week suggest a recent award, French government documents indicate the decision was made earlier. The DGA’s International Defence Companies Notebook 2026, published in December 2025, shows that the DESIR project was entrusted to Loft Orbital in June 2025 and carries a total budget of €50 million.
France’s 2026 budget documentation for Programme 191, which covers dual-use research, describes DESIR as a SAR demonstrator intended to validate the feasibility and overall architecture of a future operational system. The programme also aims to mature sovereign technology building blocks and reinforce national expertise in radar image processing.
Industrial work on DESIR is understood to have begun in 2025. According to statements released on Jan. 22, the SAR demonstrator is expected to enter service in early 2029. Thales Alenia Space has indicated that the mission would then be followed by two years of operational activity, while Loft Orbital said the operational phase would last at least two years.
The project reflects France’s broader push to secure independent space-based sensing capabilities amid growing strategic competition and increasing reliance on Earth observation data for defence and security planning.
