The French radio frequency (RF) detection specialist Unseenlabs has officially strengthened its long-term partnership with the Danish smallsat manufacturer GomSpace through a new contract for the procurement of two additional cubesats. This agreement, valued at approximately 2.2 million euros ($2.5 million), marks a significant milestone in the expansion of Unseenlabs’ space-based infrastructure and underscores the growing demand for high-precision maritime surveillance capabilities. Announced on Wednesday, the contract specifies that the new satellites will be built on GomSpace’s proven 8U satellite platform, with a scheduled delivery window set for 2027. This latest transaction brings the total number of satellites Unseenlabs has ordered from GomSpace to 16, following a series of strategic orders placed in 2022, 2024, and 2025.
As the global maritime industry faces increasing challenges from "dark vessels"—ships that intentionally deactivate their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders to avoid detection—the role of RF signal detection from space has become a critical component of international security and environmental protection. Unseenlabs, based in Rennes, France, has positioned itself as a global leader in this niche, providing sovereign and commercial entities with the ability to track vessels that would otherwise remain invisible to traditional monitoring systems.
The Strategic Partnership and Technical Specifications
The collaboration between Unseenlabs and GomSpace represents one of the most consistent partnerships in the European NewSpace sector. By selecting the 8U cubesat platform, Unseenlabs is prioritizing a balance between compact form factors and high-performance capabilities. The 8U design provides sufficient volume and power for advanced RF sensing payloads while maintaining the cost-efficiencies associated with smallsat technology.
The 2.2 million euro investment is not merely a purchase of hardware but an investment in the "persistence" of Unseenlabs’ orbital network. In the satellite industry, persistence refers to the frequency with which a satellite constellation can revisit a specific geographic area. By adding more units to their fleet, Unseenlabs reduces the time gap between observations, providing customers with near-real-time intelligence on maritime movements across the globe.
Jonathan Galic, co-founder, president, and Chief Technology Officer of Unseenlabs, emphasized the importance of technical continuity in the company’s growth strategy. Galic noted that continuing to build their infrastructure on the same proven platform offers significant operational benefits, allowing the company to streamline integration and reinforce the reliability of their signal intelligence (SIGINT) services.
A Chronology of Growth: From Startup to Constellation Leader
Unseenlabs was founded in 2018 by brothers Clément and Jonathan Galic, both of whom brought extensive experience from the aerospace industry. Their vision was to create a proprietary technology capable of identifying the unique "radio fingerprint" of any vessel at sea. Unlike AIS, which relies on the vessel’s cooperation to broadcast its location, RF detection is a passive technology that captures the electromagnetic signals emitted by a ship’s onboard electronics, such as radars and communication equipment.
The company’s journey to its current 22-satellite constellation has been characterized by rapid deployment and strategic capital raises. Earlier in 2024, Unseenlabs secured an impressive 85 million euros ($92 million) in Series C funding, one of the largest rounds for a European space-tech company in recent years. This capital has been instrumental in accelerating the production of their Gen 2 satellites and expanding their global footprint.
The timeline of Unseenlabs’ orbital deployments reflects a diversified launch strategy:
- Early Milestones: The company began its deployment phase with experimental and initial operational satellites launched via various providers, including Rocket Lab’s Electron vehicle.
- Expansion Phase: Throughout 2022 and 2023, the company ramped up its launch cadence, utilizing SpaceX’s Transporter rideshare missions to place multiple satellites into sun-synchronous orbits.
- Recent Success: In June 2024, Unseenlabs successfully launched its latest satellite aboard the Japanese H3 launcher, managed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This launch was a testament to the company’s ability to integrate with diverse international launch providers.
The Critical Role of RF Detection in Maritime Domain Awareness
Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact security, safety, economy, or environment. Traditional MDA has relied heavily on AIS data, which is mandatory for most large commercial vessels. However, AIS is easily manipulated; crews involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, smuggling, or sanctions evasion frequently turn off their transponders to "go dark."
Unseenlabs’ technology addresses this vulnerability by detecting the RF signals that ships cannot easily turn off if they wish to navigate safely or maintain internal operations. By geolocating these signals, Unseenlabs can provide a precise location of a vessel to coast guards, NGOs, and insurance companies, even when the ship is attempting to hide.
The implications for global security are profound. In the context of international sanctions, such as those placed on oil exports from certain regions, RF detection allows authorities to identify "ghost fleets" engaged in ship-to-ship transfers in the middle of the ocean. Furthermore, in the fight against IUU fishing—which costs the global economy billions of dollars annually and devastates marine ecosystems—RF surveillance provides a tool for environmental agencies to monitor protected marine areas.
Advancing to Gen 2: Multi-Domain Awareness
While the current order for 8U satellites from GomSpace will bolster the existing maritime constellation, Unseenlabs is simultaneously looking toward the next frontier: Gen 2 satellites. These next-generation assets are designed to be more versatile and sensitive, expanding the company’s capabilities beyond the ocean.
The transition to Gen 2 represents a shift from Maritime Domain Awareness to Multi-Domain Awareness. This involves:
- Land Monitoring: Detecting RF signals from terrestrial sources to assist in border security and infrastructure monitoring.
- Space Monitoring: Using space-based sensors to monitor the electromagnetic environment of the orbital plane itself, contributing to Space Situational Awareness (SSA).
- Enhanced Signal Processing: Gen 2 satellites will feature improved onboard processing, allowing for faster data analysis and the ability to distinguish between a wider variety of signal types.
This evolution aligns with broader trends in the intelligence community, where "fused" data—combining RF detection with optical imagery and synthetic aperture radar (SAR)—is becoming the gold standard for global surveillance.
Market Context and Competitive Landscape
The commercial SIGINT market is becoming increasingly competitive. Unseenlabs faces competition from North American players like HawkEye 360, which also operates a constellation of RF-detecting satellites. However, the European market remains a stronghold for Unseenlabs, particularly as the European Union emphasizes "strategic autonomy" in space and defense.
For GomSpace, the contract is a vital boost. The Danish manufacturer has navigated a period of restructuring and financial recalibration over the last two years. Securing a 2.2 million euro order from a repeat customer like Unseenlabs validates GomSpace’s 8U platform as a reliable workhorse for the NewSpace industry. It also highlights the strength of the European space supply chain, where specialized companies collaborate across borders to deliver complex systems.
The financial health of the smallsat industry often depends on such multi-year, multi-satellite agreements. While the launch of a single satellite makes headlines, it is the steady procurement of "batches" of satellites that allows manufacturers to achieve economies of scale and maintain consistent production lines.
Broader Economic and Geopolitical Implications
The expansion of Unseenlabs’ constellation has implications that extend far beyond the balance sheets of the companies involved. As the world becomes more interconnected, the "transparency" of the oceans becomes a geopolitical necessity.
- Environmental Protection: Increased persistence in satellite coverage means that oil spills or illegal dumping can be traced back to the offending vessel more accurately.
- Supply Chain Security: In an era of heightened piracy and regional conflicts (such as those in the Red Sea), commercial shipping companies require precise data on vessel movements to route their fleets safely.
- Insurance and Risk Management: The insurance industry is increasingly looking toward RF data to verify the claims of ship owners and to assess the risk of insuring vessels operating in high-risk zones.
The delivery of the two new satellites in 2027 will occur at a time when the number of active satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) is expected to have grown by thousands. In this crowded environment, the ability of Unseenlabs to maintain a high signal-to-noise ratio and provide actionable intelligence will be the true test of their technological superiority.
Conclusion: A Future-Proofed Infrastructure
The 2.2 million euro agreement between Unseenlabs and GomSpace is a clear indicator of the maturity of the commercial RF detection market. By securing hardware for 2027, Unseenlabs is ensuring that its constellation remains at the cutting edge of performance while maintaining the operational stability required to serve its global clientele.
As the company moves forward with its Gen 2 plans and its expansion into land and space monitoring, the foundation provided by the GomSpace 8U platform remains a cornerstone of its success. In the high-stakes world of maritime surveillance, where the difference between detection and evasion can have massive economic and security consequences, Unseenlabs continues to prove that "seeing" the invisible is the future of global security. With 22 satellites already in orbit and 16 more ordered from GomSpace alone, the French firm is well on its way to creating a permanent, unblinking eye over the world’s oceans.
