The European satellite operator pioneer in atmospheric monitoring today announces three major milestones marking its transition out of incubation within the Absolut Group:
- A capital increase to finance a €12 million investment plan dedicated to its next-generation satellites, GESat GEN2;
- A strengthening of the executive leadership team with Nicolas Fabre, 45, becoming a partner and appointed Managing Director;
- A corporate rebranding, with Absolut Sensing becoming Sensing Atmospheric Intelligence (now doing business as “Sensing”).
This new funding round, supported by investors Vol-V and Pi Invest, confirms an accelerated organic growth strategy.
Unprecedented operational and technological performance
Founded in October 2021, the Toulouse-based company was established with the mission of monitoring, understanding and ultimately predicting natural and man-made disasters.
Following the successful launch of its first satellite, GESat GEN1, in January 2025—joining the exclusive group of just 6 French commercial satellite operators—Sensing’s technology has demonstrated operational success. Achieved at exceptional speed, this first launch took place only three years after the company’s creation with a team of fewer than 20 employees and a total budget below €10 million.
Validated under real-world operating conditions with accuracy exceeding 97% during blind testing, the solution now enables monthly monitoring of more than 260 methane-emitting industrial sites worldwide. Sensing transforms raw space data into concentration maps and highly accurate emissions inventories with source attribution at the equipment-level.
“When I founded the company, I set us an ambitious goal: to launch a satellite in under five years and become a European leader in detecting and quantifying anthropogenic methane emissions. We achieved this objective in three years and three months with the launch of GESat GEN1 and our selection under the European Union’s CCM programme as one of only 2 companies capable of delivering methane emissions data aligned with Europe’s requirements.”
— Tristan Laurent, CEO of Sensing
Moving toward hyperspectral technology and maritime detection with GESat GEN2
The new €12 million investment plan includes the development and launch of GESat GEN2, the company’s first hyperspectral satellite. This second generation of satellites will significantly expand Sensing’s applications scope, while enhancing the performance level of its existing services. Incorporating a technological breakthrough in optics, it enables the quantification of methane emissions below 50 kg/hour, both onshore and offshore, with over 90% accuracy.
While offshore platforms account for 65% of global industrial methane sources, no satellites in operation today or under development is capable of accurately quantifying these emission flows over water. Sensing aims to become the first satellite operator to close this technological gap through a proprietary active optical scanning system developed in-house combined with its own physics-guided artificial intelligence model.
Strengthened governance to support scaling
To lead this next phase of growth, Nicolas Fabre, who joined the company in 2023, has been appointed Managing Director. An engineer by training, he brings operational and financial expertise built over 20 years of management experience within technology giant Capgemini before applying his skills to atmospheric intelligence.
“I am proud to take operational leadership of Sensing at such a pivotal moment in its history. Our priority is to support governments and industrial operators in strengthening their technological independence by providing sovereign, actionable data.”
— Nicolas Fabre, Managing Director of Sensing
The next GESat satellite launch is scheduled for late 2027 to early 2028.
