CERISE and Zenon
While no European or Asian country other than the Russian Federation currently operates ELINT satellites, France will deploy its first satellite of this type in 1995 under the CERISE (Characterisation de l'Environment Radio-etectrique par un Instrument Spatial Embarque) program. A much more capable satellite named Zenon is under development for launch sometime about the turn of the century. The CERISE satellite is actually a 50-kg mini-satellite which will be carried piggyback with the Helios 1A military reconnaissance satellite. Based on the UK's UoSAT spacecraft bus, CERISE is being designed and manufactured by Alcatel Espace. The project is viewed as largely experimental, and CERISE will have the capability of detecting a limited portion (high frequency) of the electromagnetic spectrum. A follow-on spacecraft named Clementine is tentatively scheduled for launch in 1998 to exploit low frequency signals.
Anticipating practical results, the French government in 1992 began studying the feasibility of deploying and operating the large, dedicated Zenon ELINT satellite. The space architecture of a potential Zenon network is still in a formative stage. The program may concentrate on studying the emissions of foreign tactical and strategic radars (References 58-62).
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