Europe Commits €2.1B to Secure, Resilient Satellite Connectivity
Europe has made one of its strongest statements yet on the future of secure space-enabled communications. At the ESA Ministerial Council in Bremen, Member States approved €2.1 billion in new funding to reinforce European resilience, autonomy, and competitiveness in satellite connectivity.
The investment ensures continuity across ESA’s flagship telecommunications programmes, particularly ARTES 4.0, which has long served as Europe’s engine for satcom innovation. ARTES has a track record of maturing emerging technologies from optical and quantum communications to space-based 5G, and helping industry de-risk next-generation systems before global commercial rollout. The renewed commitment will sustain European leadership in GEO with programmes like HummingSat and Novacom, while advancing secure quantum communications through SAGA, Eagle-1, Eagle neXt, and QKDSat.
Another focus of the investment package is ESA’s expanding role in the European Union's IRIS² programme, the EU’s new multi-orbit secure connectivity constellation. ESA will support qualification and validation of IRIS²’s space segment, seen as a critical building block in the EU’s goal of providing resilient government-grade communications and new commercial services. IRIS² is also expected to become a backbone for ESA’s emerging European Resilience from Space initiative, integrating communications with EO and navigation for real-time crisis response.
The funding aims to accelerate Europe into the direct-to-device era, with ESA investing in 5G NTN technologies designed to deliver seamless hybrid connectivity. Aviation, maritime, cybersecurity, spectrum protection, and air traffic management will also benefit, particularly through the continued rollout of Iris Global, which aims to modernise air traffic communications across Europe.
Beyond Earth, the decision gives fresh momentum to Moonlight, ESA’s programme to build lunar communication and navigation services. With dozens of lunar missions planned this decade, Moonlight positions Europe as an early leader in cislunar infrastructure.
Laurent Jaffart, ESA’s Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications, framed the vote as a generational moment:
“Our vision is to connect everyone, everything, everywhere and at all times.”