Connectivity

ESA promotes the use of space to securely connect everybody and everything everywhere and at any time, whether in remote areas or travelling by car, boat or plane. Seamlessly integrating satellite communications with terrestrial systems empowers this secure connectivity. Satellite communications is the economic engine of the space industry, representing a substantial segment of the global satellite economy. ESA enables the digital transformation of society and empowers European autonomy, leadership and innovation in today’s interconnected world. 

ESA is inviting private space companies in Europe and Canada to create a shared commercial telecommunication and navigation service for lunar missions by putting a constellation of satellites around the Moon. Some 250 missions to the Moon are due to launch over the next decade alone, and ESA will either lead or be an international partner in many of them. Creating a shared telecommunications and navigation service for these missions – both robotic and crewed, and some of which involve a permanent lunar presence – would reduce design complexity and make them lighter and more cost efficient.  

Optical and quantum technologies are the next revolution of connectivity and enable ultra-fast and secure data exchange.