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Press release – CIMEL-GRASP alliance

The NewSpace pioneer in atmospheric environmental monitoring, GRASP Earth, strengthens its capabilities through an alliance with CIMEL.

CIMEL’s entry into the GRASP Earth group enhances the integration of ground- and space-based atmospheric observations, which is key to delivering scientifically validated data for climate, air quality, and environmental decision-making.

Lille, Paris, 5 February 2026 – GRASP and CIMEL ELECTRONIQUE today announced their strategic alliance, shaping the GRASP Earth group as the NewSpace leader in atmospheric environmental monitoring. By integrating CIMEL’s expertise in scientific instrumentation with GRASP cutting-edge data processing—and building on the proven success of its GAPMAP constellation demonstrator—GRASP Earth will bridge ground-to-space monitoring of the atmosphere. This will enrich local and global Earth Observation and provide actionable data for climate research, meteorology, air quality, and environmental protection, empowering scientists, space agencies, cities, and industries with unprecedented accuracy and scientifically validated insights.

Monitoring atmospheric composition, aerosols (particles), gases and clouds, is critical for climate, meteorology, air quality and public health, as well as for vital satellite surface imagery applications. Yet it is necessary to leverage several hi-tech instrument types as well as high performance synergetic data analysis to provide a relevant picture of the complex and moving Earth atmosphere system at all scales, from local to global, and from the surface to the upper atmosphere.

With the alliance, GRASP Earth aims to become a global leader in atmospheric monitoring. By integrating CIMEL’s renowned expertise in ground-based reference instrumentation and deploying its own GAPMAP constellation—equipped with proprietary multi-angle polarimeter technology—GRASP Earth pursues a clear vision: combining ground-based precision, global satellite coverage, and advanced retrieval algorithms to deliver end-to-end measurement and processing approaches that ensures scientifically validated data of atmospheric composition.

“This alliance is the natural next step after years of working side by side in a field where our strengths align perfectly. For our partners and customers, it means even more powerful solutions—combining CIMEL’s instruments with GRASP cutting-edge algorithms. And for us, it’s a proud milestone: expanding our expertise into NewSpace instrumentation. A thrilling new chapter for CIMEL!”, Didier Crozel, CEO of CIMEL ELECTRONIQUE stated.

Within the alliance, CIMEL will extend its industrial expertise to manufacture the satellite borne polarimeters in its facilities in Paris. “This strategic move not only perfectly complements GRASP’s current product catalog with solutions for monitoring the Earth from ground and space—all powered by our algorithms—but also reinforces our position in Europe, adding key industrial capabilities in France.”, David Fuertes, CEO of GRASP Earth highlighted. Both companies will pursue their current operations and at the same time join forces, collaborating with partners and customers to harness holistic observations from the surface to the orbit and power operational atmospheric data chains at local, regional and global scales.

This alliance reinforces GRASP Earth’s unique global positioning—grounded in France’s heritage in atmospheric sciences and Earth Observation—while advancing French and European leadership and autonomy in the NewSpace industry and environmental monitoring.

About GRASP Earth

GRASP Earth is a pioneer in atmospheric monitoring, leveraging its advanced algorithms to transform measurements into detailed information about physical properties of the Earth’s atmosphere and surface. Its vision is to integrate ground- and space-based observations—including its own GAPMAP constellation—to deliver a comprehensive, holistic view of aerosols, gases, and clouds, that empowers climate scientists, environmental regulators, industries, and local governments to better monitor, understand and act.

Website: www.grasp-earth.com

About CIMEL ELECTRONIQUE


CIMEL is a global leader in atmospheric instrumentation, designing and manufacturing high-precision instruments for ground-based and spaceborne applications. With decades of expertise, CIMEL’s solutions are trusted by scientific networks and space agencies worldwide. In particular, more than 600 CIMEL photometers permanently run in AERONET, the worldwide reference aerosol observation network, federated by NASA. The company’s instruments support critical applications in climate research, air quality monitoring, and satellite calibration.


Website: www.cimel.fr

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Presidential mission in Southeast Asia

Emmanuel MACRON

CIMEL strengthens its presence in Southeast Asia during the France-Vietnam Presidential Mission

Keywords: CIMEL, Environmental Monitoring, Atmospheric Science, JETP , Air Quality, Climate Action, BMKG, VAST, Macron.

May 2025

As part of the official visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Southeast Asia in May 2025, a delegation of French companies and institutions took part in a strategic mission in Vietnam and Indonesia under the “France-Vietnam: A Shared Future” initiative.

CIMEL, represented by Idris SANHAJ, our Sales and Marketing Director, was honored to be part of the French delegation, reaffirming our commitment to international scientific and environmental cooperation.

During this mission, CIMEL had the opportunity to engage with several national authorities and scientific institutions:

  • In Indonesia, Idris visited the BMKG (Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika), the national agency for meteorology, climatology, and geophysics, to explore avenues for collaboration on atmospheric observation and extreme weather monitoring (picture on the left).
  • In Vietnam, he met with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) and several research teams to discuss cooperation in aerosol monitoring, dust events, and solar radiation measurements (picture on the right).

This mission, supported by Team France Export and the French Embassy, highlighted CIMEL’s role as a key player in atmospheric observation technologies in the Asia-Pacific region — particularly in the context of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and climate change adaptation strategies.

We are deeply grateful to all our partners for their warm welcome and shared ambition to tackle pressing environmental challenges through science and innovation.

CIMEL is proud to contribute to global initiatives for a cleaner, more resilient, and sustainable future.

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COBIACC campaign

COBIACC campaign

Is the rural atmosphere better than elsewhere?

For the entire month of July in Caillouël-Crépigny (France), scientists from the University of Lille and ATMO Hauts-de-France will analyze particles in the air and their impact on health in rural areas.

Since 28 June, more than twenty air pollution measuring devices deployed over 100 m² in the commune of Caillouël-Crépigny (02) may answer this question.

Objectives: To understand the formation and the composition of particles and their precursors in the air in a rural environment during the summer period.

The sensors collect dust from the countryside and nearby dust from forests, roads, buildings and industries in the distance.

The facility consists of four containers installed on 100 m² in the village square of Caillouël-Crépigny. They accommodate twenty-two observation instruments including our Cimel Sun Sky Lunar CE318-T photometer as well as our CE376 micro-LiDAR. These instruments, unique in France, measure the impact of climate change on air quality, biodiversity and health. Thirty researchers take turns night and day to study the chemical modifications of particles during periods of high heat.

This campaign was named COBIACC for Campagne d’OBservation Intensive des Aérosols et précurseurs à Caillouël-Crépigny. It is the result of a partnership between Labex CaPPA, a laboratory of excellence in Lille, CPER Climibio, an environmental project involving 16 laboratories in the Hauts-de-France and Atmo Hauts-de-France, the regional air quality observatory.

Laboratories involved: