France has selected Thales Alenia Space to develop the radar payload and associated ground segment for its new DESIR (Démonstrateur des Éléments Souverains d’Imagerie Radar) space radar imaging programme, in a contract awarded by the French Space Agency (CNES) and the Defence Procurement Agency (DGA). The initiative aims to establish a sovereign satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capability capable of delivering all-weather, day-and-night imaging. The radar system is designed to comp