LEUVEN, Belgium — Optical payload specialist Simera Sense has secured a contract to supply eight MultiScape100 Earth observation imagers for the Canary Islands Satellite Constellation.
The agreement, announced July 7, 2026, was finalized with Telespazio Ibérica; the Spanish subsidiary of space services giant Telespazio. Telespazio Ibérica is serving as prime contractor under a €21.3 million ($24.4 million) regional space initiative commissioned by the Tenerife Island Council.
The Canary Islands Satellite Constellation represents one of Europe’s most ambitious regional space programs. The dedicated Earth observation fleet will provide the local governing body with sovereign capabilities to manage environmental crises, direct emergency responses, and protect the archipelago’s critical infrastructure.
Delivering Max Situational Awareness
To deliver maximum situational awareness, Spanish space manufacturer AVS (Added Value Solutions) is integrating the eight Simera Sense imagers across three 80-kilogram operational satellites:
- Satellites 1 & 2: Armed with three MultiScape100 imagers each.
- Satellite 3: Armed with two MultiScape100 imagers.
By mounting multiple imagers onto a single satellite platform, the constellation significantly increases its overall swath width (the strip of Earth’s surface imaged during a pass). This unique architecture allows the satellites to capture much broader geographical areas on every orbit without sacrificing high-resolution imagery—crucial when tracking fast-moving disasters like active wildfires or volcanic ash plumes.
The MultiScape100 is engineered for modern small satellites, delivering high-resolution multispectral data within a compact, low-mass 1.5U form factor.
Actionable Insights for Local Governments
Unlike traditional, single-band black-and-white (panchromatic) space photography, the MultiScape100 captures imagery across multiple distinct spectral bands. This allows the Tenerife Council and local agencies to isolate specific visual data points for precision applications, including:
- Wildfire tracking: Early detection of ignition zones in dense forest canopies or remote volcanic slopes.
- Vegetation health: Monitoring agricultural crops and native forests for drought or pest infestations.
- Coastal and maritime security: Tracking unauthorized vessels, illegal discharges, or changes in coastal ecosystems across surrounding Atlantic waters.
- Volcanic & environmental hazards: Quick-turnaround mapping of active lava flows and geothermal thermal spikes.
“The selection of the eight multispectral cameras marks another step forward…Our priority is to ensure that each element of the system contributes to a reliable Earth observation capability that can support decision-making, emergency response, and sustainable territorial management across the archipelago.”
– Carlos Fernández de la Peña, CEO of Telespazio Ibérica
Strategic Launch Timeline
The constellation is structured to begin with an initial technology demonstrator satellite scheduled to fly in the second half of 2027 to validate the AVS bus and data pipeline.
Following successful validation, the three operational satellites carrying the eight MultiScape100 imagers will launch together in the second half of 2028. The constellation will move into an active commercial data exploitation phase between 2029 and 2031, providing near-daily revisits of the islands.
The program is a foundational element of the Tenerife Space Horizon initiative, a regional development project aiming to transform the Canary Islands into a strategic technological hub, foster high-skill aerospace employment, and commercialize valuable Earth observation datasets globally.