Europe tracks pirates from space...and more

The planned Musis (Multinational Space-based Imaging System) satellite is designed to replace the present Helios 2 military observation satellite depicted above


EUbusiness reports, "The small grey building near Madrid has morphed into something from a futuristic film, with intelligence analysts inside feverishly tracking the faraway movements of pirates and rebels. The European Union Satellite Centre for intelligence at the Torrejon military base is wrapping up its busiest year, and its capabilities are set to expand."

This activity comes on the heels of an important decision outlined in Defense News where Poland "joined the six EU countries that have given informal backing for a planned launch of the French Musis optical spy satellite. France won the support of Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands and Spain for the collaborative space program."

The planned Musis (Multinational Space-based Imaging System) satellite network is designed to replace the present Helios 2 military observation satellite around 2015.

This activity is all part of an international environment where there is no longer a single monopoly on data source. Instead there are variety of data sources from Europe, the Americas, India, the Middle East and Asia.


- Jeff