Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 6, 2026

Atlantic Constellation

The Atlantic Constellation is a satellite constellation of Earth observation satellites under development by Spain and Portugal, funded by the European Union (EU) and coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA), with additional contributions by the United Kingdom (UK), via the UK Space Agency. The constellation, focused on coastal surveillance, environmental management, and climate monitoring, will consist of high and very high resolution sub-spectral and multi-spectral Earth observation satellites with revisit times of 24 hours, thrice shorter than Copernicus.

Last revised
Jul 6, 2026
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Atlantic Constellation
ManufacturerOpen Cosmos, ICEYE, Satlantis
Country of origin European Space Agency
European Union
Spain
Portugal
United Kingdom
Applicationscoastal surveillance,
environmental management,
climate monitoring
Production
Launched4
Maiden launch2025

The Atlantic Constellation (Constelación Atlántica) is a satellite constellation of Earth observation satellites under development by Spain and Portugal, funded by the European Union (EU)1234 and coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA),5 with additional contributions by the United Kingdom (UK), via the UK Space Agency.67 The constellation, focused on coastal surveillance, environmental management, and climate monitoring,8 will consist of high and very high resolution sub-spectral and multi-spectral Earth observation satellites9 with revisit times of 24 hours, thrice shorter than Copernicus.10

Satellites

Garai precursors

In 2025 and 2026, the Spanish company Satlantis launched two precursor satellites: Garai A and Garai B named after Basque explorer Juan de Garai. The satellites are testing the multispectral instruments ISIM-90 and ISIM-170.1112131415

Spain

Spain originally planned to contribute eight satellites as its component of the constellation (ESCA). The contract to build these was awarded to the UK-based Open Cosmos in October 2025. These satellites, expected to be delivered by 2027, will be equipped with high-resolution multispectral optical cameras, GNSS reflectometry receivers, AIS receivers, and Internet of Things connectivity.8 The Spanish satellites will be named by students of Spanish primary and secondary schools.16 In May 2026, Open Cosmos presented the final design of the eight satellites at an event in Sevilla.17

In early 2026, Spanish government approved additional €325 million for development of three further satellites as part of Atlantic Constellation expanded satellite programme ESCA+, bringing the Spanish contribution to 11.18

UK

The UK will launch its single satellite, Atlantic Constellation Pathfinder also built by Open Cosmos, to the same orbital plane as three of the Portuguese spacecraft in 2026. This is expected to increase the revisit frequency for the first orbital plane by 33%.610 Open Cosmos used its ESA-supported mission MANTIS (November 2023 to October 2025) for de-risking technologies for Atlantic Constellation Pathfinder.19

Portugal

Portugal plans to contribute other eight satellites. In addition, Portugal also includes its air force-operated, ICEYE-constructed synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites within Atlantic Constellation.202122 The first of the Portuguese ICEYE satellites was launched on 30 March 2026 aboard Falcon 9's Transporter-16 rideshare mission.232425 The second satellite, and first wholly owned by the Portuguese Air Force, was launched on 3 May 2026 on Falcon 9's CAS500-2 rideshare mission.262728

Launches

Atlantic Constellation satellites
Name COSPAR ID Role Operator Manufacturer Launch date Launch vehicle Flight
Garai A 2025-009AC Precursor Spain Satlantis 14 January 2025, 19:09 UTC Falcon 9 Transporter-12
Garai B 2026-067AZ Precursor Spain Satlantis 30 March 2026, 11:02 UTC Falcon 9 Transporter-16
ICEYE-X? SAR Portugal ICEYE
ICEYE-X? SAR Portugal ICEYE 3 May 2026, 07:00 UTC Falcon 9 CAS500-2
See also

See also

References

References

  1. Parsonson, Andrew (2024-05-24). "ESA Awards Contracts for Spain's Contribution to Atlantic Constellation". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  2. Atalayar (2022-11-07). "Spain makes its way into ESA with Constelación Atlántica, Arrakihs and Spainsat NG". Atalayar. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  3. "New Space Agenda Atlantic Constellation". www.newspaceportugal.org. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  4. Charoux, Valerie (2022-11-06). "Portugal's Atlantic Constellation". Business News - PBN. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  5. Parsonson, Andrew (2023-09-22). "Spain Partner with ESA to Build €80M Atlantic Constellation". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  6. Parsonson, Andrew (2023-11-22). "The UK to Contribute More Than £3M to the Atlantic Constellation". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  7. "Space for Our Future: UK aims to join Atlantic Constellation with funding for new Earth observation satellite". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  8. Parsonson, Andrew (2025-10-17). "Open Cosmos to Build Spanish Component of the Atlantic Constellation". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  9. "Atlantic Constellation". www.ceiia.com. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  10. "Atlantic Constellation Pathfinder Satellite Mission Summary | CEOS Database". database.eohandbook.com. Retrieved 2025-10-17.
  11. Sarah (2025-01-17). "GARAI A SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED". Satlantis (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  12. InfoEspacial. "Satlantis pone en órbita el microsatélite Garai B, pieza clave en el desarrollo de la Constelación Atlántica". Infoespacial (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  13. "GARAI". eoPortal. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  14. "Launch of Garai A, the new satellite from Satlantis". Enagas Emprende (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  15. "Garai A, B". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  16. Aeroespacial, Actualidad (2025-11-07). "España invita a los estudiantes a nombrar los ocho satélites que aportará a la Constelación Atlántica". Actualidad Aeroespacial (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-12-28.
  17. Apesteguía, Esther (2026-05-14). "Open Cosmos presenta el diseño definitivo de su satélite para la Constelación Atlántica". Fly News (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-05-14.
  18. Parsonson, Andrew (2026-04-01). "Spain Approves €325 Million ESCA+ Expansion of Atlantic Constellation". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
  19. Traviss, Megan (2025-12-18). "MANTIS: A small satellite with outsized impact". Innovation News Network. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  20. "Iceye launches six new SAR satellites". Default. 2026-03-31. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  21. WEBTEAM, FAP-. "Força Aérea Portuguesa". www.emfa.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  22. "ICEYE signs agreement to deliver SAR satellite capabilities to the Portuguese Air Force". www.iceye.com. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  23. Cranny-Evans, Sam (2026-03-31). "ICEYE deploys 70th satellite in recent launch, including sovereign fleets for Poland and Portugal". Calibre Defence. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  24. "ICEYE sends 6 new satellites. A breakthrough in space sovereignty - Brandsit". 2026-03-31. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  25. "Iceye launches six new SAR satellites". Default. 2026-03-31. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  26. S.A, Telewizja Polska. "Poland's newest military satellite deployed in orbit". tvpworld.com. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  27. Muczyński, Rafał (2026-05-03). "Polskie satelity radarowe POLSARIS-4 i Eycore-1 na orbicie". MILMAG (in Polish). Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  28. "Second Portuguese military satellite launches early this morning". 3 May 2026.