GMV has been awarded a new research and development contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) under its Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) Core Competitiveness programme within ESA’s Connectivity and Secure Communications. The initiative aims to develop an advanced collision avoidance service tailored to the needs of large-scale telecommunications constellations.
Building upon GMV’s Focusoc platform, the new service—FOCUSOC NXTGEN—aims to deliver faster and more accurate collision risk assessments by integrating a wide array of data sources and enhancing response strategies.
A key feature of the project is the creation of a new conjunction assessment centre in the United Kingdom. This centre will serve operators both in the UK and globally, offering expanded capabilities beyond current services. A complete system redesign enables the platform to support higher data processing volumes, with a scalable infrastructure that can adapt to user requirements.
While the current service can process constellations of tens of satellites, the goal is to accommodate the new key players: large-sized constellations that feature hundreds of them. FOCUSOC-NXTGEN is aiming to assess conjunctions for more than 1,000 satellites.
FOCUSOC NXTGEN is designed to filter out false positives and pinpoint genuine threats with greater precision, delivering timely manoeuvre recommendations.
The service will include a dedicated database of conjunctions to support long-term trend analysis, a manoeuvre testing environment that makes use of GMV’s Flight Dynamics Systems expertise, and API integration for operational efficiency. Redundant system architecture is designed to ensure uninterrupted 24/7 availability.
The new service is scheduled for official launch in summer 2026, with ongoing developments in close collaboration with industry stakeholders.
By contributing to the development of FOCUSOC NXTGEN, ESA is helping tackle a critical issue: the risk of orbital collisions,” said Laurent Jaffart, ESA Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications. “The success and long-term sustainability of space activities rely heavily on orbital safety; ensuring satellites and space assets remain free from collision risks.”
For more information
